A court yesterday ordered that a Chinese national be kept in detention pending his extradition to Italy for alleged involvement of trafficking human beings.

Lin Yi has a European arrest warrant issued in his name, being wanted by the Italian authorities for participation in a criminal organisation involved in trafficking of human beings.

The court, presided over by magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna, noted that the accused voluntarily informed the Maltese courts, in the presence of legal counsel, that he “would like to submit himself to the foreign judicial authority involved and therefore is of his own free will consenting to his extradition to Italy”.

The court also made a provision for the accused to return to Malta to serve the remainder of his prison sentence upon conclusion of proceedings in Italy.

The court therefore ordered that the accused be kept in detention until his extradition to Italy which will take place in 10 days. Police inspectors Noel Cutajar and Sandro Zarb prosecuted.