Domenico Rancadore, Amanda Knox And An Italian Justice Sytem Every Bit As Crap As The British Reporting
Domenico Rancadore and his wife hide their faces as they are perused by journalists, after leaving Westminster Magistrates Court, in west London.
AMANDA Knox, we have some good news. The woman found guilty of murdering Mereditch Kercher should be able to escape extradition to Italy by citing the case of Sicilian Mafia fugitive Domenico Rancadore. Thought by Italian police to be the leader a Mafia clan based in Trabia near Palermo, Domenico has been living in the UK for 20 years as one Marc Skinner.
The Times reports:
Domenico Rancadore, 65... was set free after Westminster Magistrates’ Court rejected the request for his extradition…
Today, Westminster Magistrates’ Court rejected the request for his extradition. Judge Howard Riddle said that he had been ready to order Rancadore’s return to Italy until the High Court ruled in a different case last week that conditions in Italy’s prisons were unacceptable and in breach of the Human Rights Act…
The prisons in Italy are overcrowded.
The house in Manor Waye in Uxbridge, London where a fugitive Mafia boss has been arrested.
Riddle was “satisfied that the warrant is valid, there is no statutory bar and extradition is compatible with the defendant’s Convention [human] rights, including prison conditions”.
The ruling in the Rancadore case was effectively determined by a judgment last week in the case of Hayle Abdi Badre, a Somali citizen who was wanted in Florence for financial offences. The High Court ruled that he could not be returned to Italy because of concerns aired in a previous European Court judgment about the state of Italy’s prisons.
And on the man in the dock:
He was found guilty of Mafia association and extortion in Italy in 1999 and given a seven-year jail term.
The Times‘ report does not feature these words form Rancadore’s lawyer Karen Todner:
“It’s almost impossible to defeat a European arrest warrant but we have been successful today so I’m delighted with the decision. He’s got a serious heart condition so being in prison is very difficult for him.”
Rancadore is on an electronic tag. Italy is appealing the ruling.
The BBC’s correspondent in Rome, David Willey, tells us a bit about the law:
“Now under English law, mafia conspiracy does not exist as a crime.So although he’s been found guilty of extortion, which is an extraditable offence, there are problems and the Italians are quite aware that they’ve had difficulty convincing British justice that he is one of their most wanted criminals… It’s very difficult for Italian police to nab mafia bosses. They live often for years undercover and they’re protected by their families and friends and they merge into the background.
“This is what this man appears to have been able to do very skilfully in London just as he and many other mafia criminals have managed to do in Sicily. It’s a way of life and this is why the Mafia is such a problem here in Italy and why successive governments, who have battled against organised crime – particularly in the Island of Sicily – they find it too difficult to bring all these people to justice.”
The most basic facts, however, seem murky when reported in our trusty British Press.
Sky News:
The 64-year-old, who faces a seven-year jail sentence in Italy, was refused bail during a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
So much for his age. What about his movements?
The Mirror:
Domenico Rancadore, 64, fled in 1995 from Sicily, where he was the Cosa Nostra boss in the town of Trabia.
The Guardian:
The mobster, who is accused of being a former “man of honour” in the Cosa Nostra group, fled to London with his wife in 1994…
Sky News:
The father of two had been living in the UK as a househusband under the alias Marc Skinner since 1993 while his wife Anne ran a travel agency to support the family.
Such are the facts.
Now, what do we know for sure about Amanda Knox’s guilt..?
Posted: 17th, March 2014 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
