Italian Mafia informer Donatella Concas is to be extradited to Italy following a European arrest warrant, the Court has decided.
During the hearings, Lawyer Malcolm Mifsud argued that there was a real risk of the woman being murdered due to her criminal connections, even inside an Italian prison.
The basis of the appeal was that due to the extensive mafia networks in Italy, Donatella Concas fears that fellow prisoners could easily receive instructions to harm/kill her.
Ms Concas was arrested in Malta after her name appeared on a Schengen Information System Alert. She had been convicted in Italy in 2015, where she was to serve a three-year, eight-month prison sentence. Following this judgment, Ms Concas disappeared for a year, fearing for her life after she testified against members of the mafia.
A question previously arose as to which judgement was to be considered as the basis for the European Arrest Warrant, her appeal case where she was present, or the decision by the Corte di Cassazione, where she was not. Concas's lawyer, Malcolm Mifsud, previously told presiding Magistrate Aaron Bugeja that for the European Arrest Warrant to be valid, the requested person - Concas in this case - must have been physically present in court when her sentence was delivered.
The Maltese court decided that the judgment resulting in the European Arrest Warrant was that of the appeals court, where she was present. The court also noted that the Corte di Cassazione did not change the original judgement and in fact denied the application and the previous judgement became enforceable.
The court, however, found no legal basis as to why she should not be sent back to Italy. She is also to be kept in custody until she is sent back to Italy.
The court noted that she has the right to appeal the decision should she wish.