The Court of Rome today confirmed that the Italian detention warrant issued against our client Gianluigi Torzi has been withdrawn. As a result, steps should be taken immediately for the withdrawal of the extradition warrant and discontinuance of extradition proceedings against our client in the UK.
The full reasoning of the Court of Rome has not been released, but it follows the ruling by the Italian Supreme Court earlier in January 2022 that the existing arrest warrant should be annulled due to material failures of disclosure by the Rome Prosecutor and the Vatican Promotor of Justice when applying for the original detention warrant. Such failings were also set out in detail in a related judgment issued by His Honour Judge Baumgartner at Southwark Crown Court in restraint proceedings earlier in March 2021.
In light of this ruling, the prosecution in the parallel trials in Italy and in the Vatican should reflect upon the unfair suppression of key defence evidence which undermines any suggestion of our client’s involvement in either extortion or money laundering.
Mr Torzi was represented in the extradition proceedings by Janes Solicitors and Francesco Meduri of Fidlaw Ltd and instructed counsel were Ben Cooper QC and Malcolm Hawkes of Doughty Street Chambers.
