ID :
27089
Tue, 10/28/2008 - 18:22
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/27089
The shortlink copeid
Mokbel fails to stop murder charges
(AAP) Accused underworld killer Tony Mokbel will still face murder and drugs charges after failing in his bid to have the case against him stopped.
Mokbel's lawyers had applied to the Victorian Supreme Court to have the criminal
case against him halted on the basis his extradition from Greece to Australia was
unlawful.
But Justice Stephen Kaye rejected the argument Mokbel was denied justice and
dismissed the application on Tuesday.
Mokbel fled Australia in 2006, absconding while on bail during the later stages of
his Supreme Court trial.
He was extradited from Greece in May this year to face murder charges for the deaths
of gangland figures Lewis Moran and Michael Marshall.
He also faces a raft of drugs charges including trafficking and conspiring to
traffic large commercial quantities of methylamphetamine in Melbourne, Greece and
other unknown locations between July 5, 2006 and June 5, 2007.
Mokbel's lawyers argued the Australian government acted improperly by encouraging
Greece to extradite Mokbel before his appeal against his extradition to the European
Court of Human Rights is finalised.
They argued it was an abuse of process for authorities to continue prosecuting
charges against him before his appeal is heard and determined.
But in his 30-page judgment, Justice Kaye ruled there was no judicial process
against Mokbel that could be subject to a claim of abuse of process.
"If there is a relevant process to which the plaintiff is subject, the circumstances
of the plaintiff's extradition from Greece to Australia do not warrant the
conclusion that his prosecution for the offences for which he was lawfully
extradited to Australia would be an abuse of such process," the judge said.
Mokbel went into hiding in March 2006, living at a rural property in Bonnie Doon in
northeast Victoria.
In November that year, Mokbel left Australia on a yacht via Geraldton, in West
Australia, sailing across the Indian Ocean and through the Suez Canal, arriving in
Athens on Christmas Eve.
He was arrested in the Definia Cafe in the Athens suburb of Glyfada on June 5, 2007,
wearing a wig and just after ordering a coffee.
His seven-month fight against extradition ended when the Greek government signed off
on his return to Australia in May.
Mokbel will next appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on December 5 for
preliminary hearings.
a
Mokbel's lawyers had applied to the Victorian Supreme Court to have the criminal
case against him halted on the basis his extradition from Greece to Australia was
unlawful.
But Justice Stephen Kaye rejected the argument Mokbel was denied justice and
dismissed the application on Tuesday.
Mokbel fled Australia in 2006, absconding while on bail during the later stages of
his Supreme Court trial.
He was extradited from Greece in May this year to face murder charges for the deaths
of gangland figures Lewis Moran and Michael Marshall.
He also faces a raft of drugs charges including trafficking and conspiring to
traffic large commercial quantities of methylamphetamine in Melbourne, Greece and
other unknown locations between July 5, 2006 and June 5, 2007.
Mokbel's lawyers argued the Australian government acted improperly by encouraging
Greece to extradite Mokbel before his appeal against his extradition to the European
Court of Human Rights is finalised.
They argued it was an abuse of process for authorities to continue prosecuting
charges against him before his appeal is heard and determined.
But in his 30-page judgment, Justice Kaye ruled there was no judicial process
against Mokbel that could be subject to a claim of abuse of process.
"If there is a relevant process to which the plaintiff is subject, the circumstances
of the plaintiff's extradition from Greece to Australia do not warrant the
conclusion that his prosecution for the offences for which he was lawfully
extradited to Australia would be an abuse of such process," the judge said.
Mokbel went into hiding in March 2006, living at a rural property in Bonnie Doon in
northeast Victoria.
In November that year, Mokbel left Australia on a yacht via Geraldton, in West
Australia, sailing across the Indian Ocean and through the Suez Canal, arriving in
Athens on Christmas Eve.
He was arrested in the Definia Cafe in the Athens suburb of Glyfada on June 5, 2007,
wearing a wig and just after ordering a coffee.
His seven-month fight against extradition ended when the Greek government signed off
on his return to Australia in May.
Mokbel will next appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on December 5 for
preliminary hearings.
a
