Butler, 45, from St Paul’s Bay, landed at Rome’s Fiumicino airport and was soon transferred to Rebibbia prison, where it is expected he will be interrogated by the Rome Giudice per le Indagni Preliminari (GIP – judge for preliminary investigations) on behalf of Ragusa GIP Giuseppe Saito.
He will eventually be transferred to the prison at Contrada Pendente in Ragusa and a date will be set for his trial. Butler had been detained in the UK following his arrest on 3 April 2004 at Heathrow Airport upon his arrival from Malta on an Air Malta flight. His wife, Carmen, who had arrived with him was sent back to Malta on the first return flight.
Butler’s extradition became possible only after the UK courts decided, in the last few days, that there was sufficient proof to grant his extradition to Italy to face charges there.
The arrest warrant for Butler had been issued on 5 October 2002 by GIP Vincenzo Ignaccolo following a request by prosecutor Lelia Di Domenico.
Italian sources said that Butler is wanted by the Ragusa Courts in connection with the landing of 11 illegal immigrants on the coast of Ragusa on 4 July 2001.
A 47-year-old Tunisian man, Habib Tabbakh, was found in a very bad way on the shore the following morning. His sister-in-law, Monia Fekih, 22, was clutching his body when the Ragusa police arrived at the scene.
And it was she who told the police what had happened during the night. When the boat came to within a few hundred metres of the shore at Caucana, the pilot of the boat, a man called “Charles”, told all the illegal immigrants on board to jump out and swim ashore.
The Tunisian man did not know how to swim, but “Charles” nonetheless threw him out of the boat. The man tried to hold on to the boat, but “Charles” allegedly hit his hands with an oar to make him let go.
Tabbakh was taken to a hospital in Ragusa, but in view of his serious condition he was soon transferred to the Cannizzaro hospital in Catania, where he died on 6 July.
According to the Ragusa police, “Charles” was later identified as being Charles Butler.
Butler is also wanted in connection with a second landing of illegal immigrants on the nearby shores of Randello (also in the Ragusa area) six days later, when another four Iraqis were found dead. The Italian authorities are saying that they died in the same manner, drowning in the sea after being thrown out of the boat a few hundred metres from the shore. In both cases, the Ragusa Courts have charged Butler with murder.
Butler is one of 13 persons residing in Malta who are wanted by the Italian authorities in connection with these two landings on the coast in the Ragusa area.
Another two people wanted in connection with this case have already been caught. They are Egyptian Abdou Kafas Salah El Din, 39, who was stopped at Fiumicino Airport in Rome on 25 January 2003, and Mohammed Anis Bel Hadj, 25, who was arrested at Santa Croce Camerina on 25 August 2004.
There are still another nine people, presumably still living in Malta, being sought by the Procura di Ragusa (the Ragusa courts) in connection with this case, while another wanted person has since died.
The extradition requests had been passed to the Procura Generale di Catania (the Catania courts) and then to the Italian Justice Ministry. Italian sources who are in close contact with the investigators in the case told The Malta Independent that there are Maltese law enforcement officers among those being sought by the Italian authorities in connection with this case.
They added that for the past few weeks, there has been an Italian task force in Malta dealing with illegal immigration.
Another Maltese man extradited to Italy in connection with “Hope Journey”
Meanwhile, in a separate case, another Maltese man wanted by the Italian authorities in connection with the landing of illegal immigrants on the Ragusa coast in December 2000, the so-called "Hope Journey", was extradited from Malta to Italy last week.
Anthony Bartolo, 46, landed under heavy security at Fiumicino airport in Rome on the evening of 6 September. He was sent to Rebibbia prison in Rome and interrogated by the Rome GIP on behalf of his Ragusa counterpart, but he chose not to answer any questions. He was assisted by defence lawyer Madgalena Giannaviola.
He, too, is expected to be transferred to the prison at Contrada Pendente in Ragusa to await the start of his trial.
The extradition warrant for Bartolo was signed by the Ragusa GIP Vincenzo Saito more than three years ago.
In connection with this case, four Maltese people have already been sentenced by the Ragusa Courts in 2003.
Josef Debattista and Rupert Busuttil, who had been caught in the act of ferrying illegal immigrants from Malta to Sicily in December 2000, were sentenced to four years and three years in prison respectively.
Raymond Gauci (known as il-Bubu) and Fatiha Khallouf, of Moroccan descent, who had been extradited from Malta to Italy in connection with this case, were sentenced to four-and-a-half years and three years in prison respectively.
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