The Supreme Court has upheld the surrender of Christian Sunday Asaiki to Italy to serve the balance of an eight-year sentence for drug trafficking imposed after he was tried in his absence.
Ms Justice Donnelly dismissed Asaiki’s appeal and affirmed a High Court surrender order, finding that his fair-trial rights had been respected despite his absence from the Italian trial.
Asaiki is wanted on a European arrest warrant issued in April 2020 by the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Belluno. He was convicted and sentenced in absentia on April 11, 2018, with the decision becoming final the following month. Having already spent six months in pre-trial detention, he is sought to serve seven years and six months.
The central question was whether Asaiki knew the consequences of failing to attend his trial — specifically, that proceedings could continue and a decision, including sentence, could be delivered without him.
The Supreme Court placed particular weight on a broad mandate Asaiki signed after his release from custody in 2015 appointing a lawyer to represent him throughout the criminal process. The mandate covered trial decisions, plea arrangements, sentencing issues and appeals. He had also provided an address for service and expressly waived attendance at a preliminary hearing.
The court found that these circumstances established an implicit but unequivocal waiver of his right to attend the later trial. It rejected the argument that surrender should be refused because Italy could not guarantee an automatic retrial or appeal after his return.
The judgment also revised earlier Irish Supreme Court guidance on surrender following trials in absentia. It clarified that the High Court must order surrender where one of the statutory safeguards is satisfied, while surrender may still be permitted in other cases where the requested person’s defence rights have otherwise been respected.
Asaiki’s appeal was dismissed and the High Court order directing his surrender to Italy was affirmed.