Albanian wrongly convicted in Italy, evidence shows

TIRANA, June 2 – Documents seen by BBC News suggest that a man from Staffordshire, convicted of murder in Italy, was never in the country at the time.
Edmond Arapi, who lives in Leek with his wife and three young children, was given a 16-year jail term in his absence, the BBC reported in its website.
His lawyers claim he is the victim of mistaken identity and are urging the Italian authorities to withdraw their request to extradite him.
Legal campaigners say the case highlights flaws in the fast-track European Arrest Warrant scheme.
Arapi, an Albanian chef legally resident in the UK and married to a British woman, was convicted of stabbing to death Castillo Marcello in Genoa, in northern Italy, in October 2004.
According to prosecutors, a distant relative and workmate of Arapi implicated him in the murder.
The Italians allege Arapi fled to Albania and from there phoned the relative, confessing to the crime.
In his absence and, says Arapi, without his knowledge, he was tried, convicted and given a 19-year prison term – reduced to 16 years after an appeal which he also apparently did not know about.
When the 29-year-old chef was eventually arrested, at Gatwick Airport on his way back from a holiday in Albania in June 2009, he was deeply shocked. He was arrested for a murder.
Arapi has spent the past 12 months – including several weeks in custody – battling to clear his name and avoid extradition.
He has compiled evidence to show that he was never in Italy at the time of the murder.
It is very likely that Arapi;s name could be the same as the name of an Albanian man from the village he grew up in. The man is on the run and is being pursued for other crimes by the Albanian authorities.