High Court refuses Italy’s request to extradite Aisha Ahmed

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Italy’s request to extradite Aisha Ahmed was rejected by the High Court on 8 February 2016. Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly ruled that the amended European Arrest Warrant Act of 2003 barred her surrender.

The judge also directed that Ahmed’s bail money be refunded. She had been released on a €1,000 bond.

The report said Ahmed was convicted in her absence in 2005. A subsequent sentence imposed by the Court of Naples was 20 years’ imprisonment.

The warrant accused Ahmed of promoting, leading and organising a group involved in importing, selling, distributing and trading cocaine in Italy between 1999 and 2000. It described the quantities involved as substantial.

Ahmed was also known as Gloria Anwulika Aro. Italian authorities issued a European Arrest Warrant, under which she was arrested in 2014 at her Tallaght home.

At earlier hearings, the court heard that Ahmed had initially said police had mistaken her for someone else. She identified herself as Gloria Aro and produced an Irish passport supporting that identity. During a later bail hearing, she acknowledged that the warrant bore her name.

At an earlier hearing in October, Ahmed’s lawyers said she had not been told about a trial said to have been scheduled. They argued that serving notice on her defence lawyer did not meet the requirements for extradition.