From: Malta Today
Appeals Court orders the extradition of Philip Mifsud over the smuggling of 18 tonnes of contraband cigarettes
Daniel Mizzi
Mr Justice Michael Mallia has this afternoon ordered the extradition of a Maltese businessman wanted implicated in the smuggling of contraband cigarettes in Genoa, accepting Italy’s extradition requirement.
Philip Mifsud, 59, is wanted in Italy over the smuggling of 18,250 kilos of contraband cigarettes in Genoa. Fellow businessmen Francis Galea and Michael Spiteri had previously been extradited also.
In November 2013, an Appeals court had overturned a Court of Magistrates’ decision to order the extradition of the three men, arguing that since Italy never formally charged them with anything, the requirement of actually charging someone was not satisfied.
However, the following day, the government amended the Extradition Law to read that a person can be surrendered when wanted “for the purposes of continuity of criminal prosecution for the commission of an offence specified in the warrant”.
