Mafia boss Sebastiano Brunno yesterday filed an appeal over his extradition, arguing the court should have accepted his complaint that the Italian authorities’ request was based on incorrect information.

Last week, the Maltese court acceded to a request by the Italians, who want Mr Brunno, 56, back in his homeland to serve the life sentence he was given over a 1992 murder.

He was arrested in Buġibba on October 2, five years after the Sicilian police mounted an extensive hunt for him.

He is known as the head of the Nardo Cosca, a branch of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra.

The arrest followed an international investigation coordinated by the Catania anti-Mafia unit with the Maltese CID and Drug Squad.

Mr Brunno’s lawyer insisted the request for extradition was null because it contained a crime he had not committed

The proceedings began after the Catania authorities had written to their Maltese counterparts saying Mr Brunno was wanted to serve time in jail over the murder of Agnello Nicolo.

The Italian authorities had previously said they also wanted Mr Brunno over an attempted murder in September 1992, but the conviction on this crime had been overturned at the appeal stage.

Magistrate Aaron Bugeja said the mistake in the request did not change its substance and the judgment handed down by the Sicilian court and confirmed on appeal proved that Mr Brunno had not served time in jail over the murder.

However, Mr Brunno’s defence lawyer, Roberto Montalto, said in his appeal that his argument should have been accepted because the information was substantially wrong.

He insisted that the request for extradition was null because it contained a crime that he had not committed.

Dr Montalto further argued that even the go-ahead given by Justice Minister Owen Bonnici for hearing the extradition proceedings was based on incorrect documents that had been transmitted to the Maltese authorities by the Italian Embassy in Malta.