Mokbel Lawyers Hopeful On Appeal
The Age
Monday March 31, 2008
UNDERWORLD identity Tony Mokbel will step up his fight against extradition to Australia by formally appealing to the European Court of Human Rights this week to look into his case.
Mokbel has reportedly hired one of Europe's highest-paid criminal lawyers to represent him before the Strasbourg-based tribunal and has beefed up his legal team in Greece in a last-ditch effort to avoid being sent home. "We will formally finalise our appeal before the European Court in the coming days when we have the written judgement of the Supreme Court in our hands," said leading Greek human rights lawyer Vasillis Hirdaris, whom the convicted drugs dealer has added to his defence team. "Much will depend on the wording of the judgement, but our main argument is that Mr Mokbel's life will be endangered if he is forced to return to Australia. We hope that the European Court will ask Greece not to extradite him, in these circumstances. I am cautiously optimistic." This month Greece's highest court upheld the Australian extradition request, ruling that the 41-year-old be sent back to face trial on all but five of the 20 charges he faces. Under Greek law, the ruling has to be approved by the country's justice minister.The intervention of the European Court will almost certainly delay the process, Mr Hirdaris said."The European Court doesn't consider these things overnight. It will take at least a month," he told The Age. "It's very unlikely that Mokbel will be extradited before it makes its decision." Greek officials say they will be "happy to see the back" of Mokbel, who entered and lived in the country on a false passport before being arrested on a tip-off from Interpol at a seaside suburb in Athens nine months ago. Although the centre-right government is believed to be keen to close the case, Mokbel's extradition could be further held up by submissions his lawyers will make to Justice Minister Sotiris Hadjigakis. Criminal lawyer Alexandros Lykourezos, a former conservative MP who has been representing Mokbel, has promised to use every legal option "that the imagination can think of " in the battle to keep his client out of Australia. His submission, which will argue the merits of a competing extradition request from Lebanon, could delay the process by several more weeks. Mokbel is wanted there on drug trafficking charges. "This is by no means an open and shut case," another of Mokbel's legal advisers, Constantine Karageorge, said. "The idea that Tony will be back in Australia in a couple of weeks is just plain wrong." Even if all else fails, his legal team says there is no guarantee that the Justice Minister will automatically rubber-stamp the Supreme Court judgement."Greece has good relations with the Arab world and especially Lebanon. From what I understand they will want to consider the Lebanese request very seriously," Mr Karageorge said. "I am not a friend of (Mokbel) but after working in Australia for 25 years I can say that it's still a racist country and if you're not an Anglo-Saxon you don't get a fair go. Tony, understandably, would rather be tried in Lebanon than Australia where he stands no chance of being given a fair trial."KEY POINTS ? Lawyer "cautiously optimistic" on European Court appeal.? Lebanon has lodged its own request to extradite Mokbel.? Mokbel yet to face 15 charges in Australia.
© 2008 The Age
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