Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/836538
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 14 JUNE 2017 4 MATTHEW AGIUS THE extradition to Lithuania of Maltese citizen Angelo Spiteri is set to go ahead af- ter the Constitutional Court dismissed three cases yester- day against both his deten- tion pending his extradition to Lithuania to face trial for fraud, and the extradition it- self. Spiteri has been fighting his extradition ever since he was arrested in December 2015 on the strength of a Eu- ropean Arrest Warrant. He had been granted bail upon his arraignment, but bail was automatically revoked as soon as the courts upheld the extradition request in Janu- ary 2016. This is because persons who have been ad- judged as being extraditable by the court of Magistrates, are precluded from being granted bail under the Ex- tradition Act. A series of appeals and Constitutional cases were then filed objecting to his extradition and his contin- ued arrest. On February 17, 2016, the Court of Criminal Appeal had upheld the decision by the Court of Magistrates or- dering his extradition. Spi- teri had then filed Consti- tutional proceedings, which had led to the suspension of the extradition order until the case was decided. After filing a second Con- stitutional Case, Spiteri was granted bail in June 2016 as an interim measure by the First Hall of the Civil Court in its Constitutional juris- diction. This was revoked in January 2017 by the Consti- tutional Court. On May 18 this year the First Hall of the Civil Court in its Constitutional juris- diction had declared that returning him to Lithuania would breach his fundamen- tal human rights and also overturned the sentences by criminal courts. The At- torney General had immedi- ately filed an appeal to this judgment, which appeal was decided yesterday. On May 19th, Spiteri had filed an application to the Court of Magistrates ask- ing it to provisionally order the enforcement of the First Hall's judgment of the 18th of May. That court had re- fused, however, observing that nowhere in the sentence was it indicated that his ar- rest was illegal or that he should be released. In three separate decisions handed down yesterday the Constitutional Court pre- sided by Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri, with Justices Gi- annino Caruana Demajo and Noel Cuschieri, ruled that, as the effects of the European Arrest Warrant remained in force, this meant that his ar- rest was legal and the courts could not order his release on bail as an interim meas- ure. It observed that the judi- cial process surrounding the man's extradition had been drawn out to such an extent solely due to his filing of Constitutional cases, which had otherwise been dealt with expeditiously by the re- spective courts. Lawyers Jason Azzopardi, Kris Busietta, Eve Borg Cos- tanzi and Julian Farrugia ap- peared for Spiteri. News Attard Previ threatens Pullicino return Maltese man fighting extradition to Lithuania loses protracted court battle CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 The executive council decided on Monday that Fenech Adami's seat on the seventh district be vacated. Arrigo would not be drawn into any possible internal poli- ticking within the PN and to what the party's overall strat- egy was, but he confirmed that he had always been, and would continue to be, a representa- tive for both the ninth and 10th districts. Casual elections hopefuls It will be a hard-fought battle for former Nationalist minis- ter George Pullicino, who de- spite standing a good chance of returning to parliament, still has to battle Graziella At- tard Previ – a strong favour- ite to inherit Robert Arrigo's votes. Pullicino, who contested the 2017 general election on the 10th district, garnered 1,088 first preference votes. How- ever, Attard Previ is expected to get a strong number of votes once Arrigo's are distributed in the upcoming casual elec- tions. The district, a PN strong- hold, saw PN candidates Rob- ert Arrigo and Karl Gouder and PD leader Marlene Far- rugia securing their seats in parliament. A seat is given up when a candidate is elected from more than one district. On Monday evening, by means of a secret vote, the 76 members of the party's executive pre- sent voted on which seats were to be given up by PN leader Simon Busuttil, deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami, Robert Arrigo, David Agius and Mar- these Portelli. The executive decided that Agius and Busuttil should give up their seats on District 11; Fenech Adami will be giving up his seat on District 7 while Portelli is giving up her seat on District 13. The executive's decision means that Arrigo – who proved to be the PN's most popular candidate on District 10 with 4,793 first preference votes – will be forced to forfeit his seat, giving Pullicino and Attard Previ a hard-fought battle. In 2013, the executive had opted for Pullicino to give up the seat when both Arrigo and Pullicino were elected from District 10. In 2008, Ar- rigo ceded his seat on District 9; and he was elected on the tenth district in 2003. But the PN executive com- mittee's decision not to open the votes on District 9, even though it was possible, was not taken kindly to. PN candidate Ivan Bartolo took to Facebook to express his regret at the decision: "My short career in politics comes to an end today. The executive members of the PN decided to vote to keep the ninth dis- trict closed. I thank all those who believed in a fresh look, in a new beginning and in new progressive positive ideas. Pol- itics is no longer on my radar." On the seventh district, the battle is between Antoine Borg and Sam Abela… fol- lowed closely by Godfrey Far- rugia. The availability of two seats on the 11th district means Mosta mayor Ivan Bartolo (not the Ivan Barolo of the ninth district) and PN treas- urer Alex Perici Calascione will likely be elected to the House. Finally, on the thirteenth dis- trict, Kevin Cutajar and David Stellini stand the strongest chance of being elected. Former minister George Pullicino is facing a serious challenge by Graziella Attard Previ in the casual election on the 10th district