European royalty made a surprise appearance in court on Monday, with a Romanian prince being remanded in custody on Monday, after being arrested at the request of Romanian authorities, through what his lawyer described as “the vindictiveness of the Romanian royal family.”

75-year-old Paul Philip Al Romaniei, also known as Paul Lambrino, appeared in the dock before Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo, after being arrested on the strength of a European Arrest Warrant, while attending an event organised by the Knights of Malta. 

The EAW, which was issued by Romania, requests that Lambrino be returned to the country in order to serve a prison sentence following his conviction - which according to reports, is for trading in influence, money laundering and bribery.

Lambrino, who has British, French and Romanian citizenship, had been sentenced to three years and four months in jail in December 2020 by a Romanian court, which had found him and 17 other defendants guilty of having, together with a gang of con-artists, attempted to “recover” properties which he claimed ownership of as heir to the Romanian royal family.

Romanian prosecutors said that Lambrino had no right to the properties, and estimated the damages caused to the State at around €145 million.

Lambrino was reported as the target of a European arrest warrant issued in December 2020, after a Romanian court sentenced him to three years and four months in jail for influence peddling and aiding and abetting a crime.

Last November, a French court was reported as having refused to extradite him, as he was at risk of political persecution. The court ruled that returning him to his homeland presented “a real risk of violation of the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights"

Then-Communist Romania had expelled its royal family in 1947, with all its properties being confiscated by the State. Lambrino’s uncle Michel, the last king of Romania, did not acknowledge him as part of the royal family and died in 2017. He claims that the real motivation behind his prosecution are his attempts to reclaim his royal inheritance, consisting of property, land and classic artworks.

Accused says he has no profession because he is ‘royalty’

Standing in the dock before magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo, the defendant gave his name as “Paul Philip of Romania,” and told the court that he resided in Paris.
When asked by the court clerk to state his profession, his lawyers informed the court that he had none “because he is royalty.” The defendant suggested that he worked with a foundation.

Inspector Roderick Spiteri exhibited an electronic copy of the court judgments relating to Lambrino’s conviction - over 1,000 pages long - and said that the man’s identity had been confirmed from his fingerprints.

Inspector Spiteri told the court that the wanted man had been convicted on charges related to corruption. 

Azzopardi argued that the case against his client was politically motivated, but the Court pointed out that this was not the correct stage for him to raise that argument.

Lambrino did not consent to being returned. “Absolutely not,” said Azzopardi, before requesting bail.

Inspector Spiteri objected to the bail request on the grounds of the serious nature of the charges and that the case against the man had already been decided.

He informed the court that the prosecution was, however, in the process of examining and verifying a number of documents which had been handed to it by the defence. 

Although Azzopardi commended the exemplary manner in which the inspector and his team had acted in the past hours, telling the court that “his loyalty to the principles of justice is second to none,” the lawyer told the court that the arrest warrant “was based on a corruption of the justice system of Romania.” 

He cited a report from Interpol which, he said, had confirmed that the corruption in the Romanian justice system, caused by parties in a dispute over property, had led to the notice being removed.

The lawyer also exhibited a decision by the Paris court of appeal regarding the same warrant, which had been handed down in November 2023. That court had concluded that the systematic failure of the Romanian justice system, in particular the composition of the court, would breach the man’s rights.

The French Court of Appeal had gone a step further and ordered that judicial supervision imposed on his client be removed, said the lawyer.

The Paris Court of Cassation rarely confirms a decision by the court of appeal, he said. “It’s extremely rare.” Notwithstanding this, in November last year, it confirmed the appeal decision in favour of his client, Azzopardi said, adding that “it shows how a serious European country, namely France, had dealt with the illegal request for the extradition of this person”

Azzopardi said that in his 30 years of legal practice, he had never encountered an EAW issued through the vindictiveness of a royal family.

“The EAW is nonsense, cannot be relied upon and cannot be acted upon and ordered his release.”

Inspector Spiteri told the court that he was currently waiting for Eurojust to confirm the authenticity of the documents exhibited by the defence. 

The defendant had been in Malta to attend an international ceremony organised by the Knights of St. John, and had been humiliatingly arrested in the middle of it, in the presence of international dignitaries, Azzopardi told the court, adding that the defendant was “more than ready” to submit to signing a bail book, if necessary, several times a day, and to pay a deposit, “but this person’s place is definitely not in prison.”

The court turned to the inspector and asked whether he wished to change his position, but the Inspector reiterated his objection to bail.

The court said it was denying the request for bail, due to the unique nature of EAW proceedings.

Photo: Flickr