Decision on extradition of Sicilian Mafia boss expected next week

Magistrate Aaron Bugeja is expected to rule on the extradition request made by the Italian authorities for Mafia boss and convicted murderer Sebastiano Brunno next week.

The court heard final submissions on the extradition request by Deputy Attorney General Donatella Frendo Dimech and defence lawyer Robert Montalto.

Frendo Dimech argued that all the requisites for extradition – a conviction and a request by the country in which the conviction took place - are present, however the defence maintains that the extradition documentation received from Italy is incorrect.

The 56-year-old Sicilian had been on the run from the authorities since 2009 before being arrested in St.Paul’s Bay in October last year.

He was arraigned before Magistrate Doreen Clarke on charges of using a false passport and sentenced to three months imprisonment.

Brunno became a wanted man in Italy after an Italian court found Brunno guilty in absentia of the 1992 murder of Nicolo Agnello, a member of a rival mafia gang.