Crime Correspondent: Extradition from Greece

Tony Mokbel could be back in Australia within months

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZIbo18z19RtoBa9-I_DBCL3e19b6vvZ5uvbAeC-agU9HPnQHy-GYpLquRo2UkzkGc285uRt78XuvJxPMXAKENk_a6i4eWfAqOetS_2gveYcCHuGZcEI_h9C8V8XYA4ZcACpH1TSAs7s/s1600-h/0,,5915721,00.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179172389756249074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZIbo18z19RtoBa9-I_DBCL3e19b6vvZ5uvbAeC-agU9HPnQHy-GYpLquRo2UkzkGc285uRt78XuvJxPMXAKENk_a6i4eWfAqOetS_2gveYcCHuGZcEI_h9C8V8XYA4ZcACpH1TSAs7s/s320/0,,5915721,00.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> Drugs fugitive Tony Mokbel could be back in Australia within months to face trial for murder after Greece's highest court cleared the way for his forced return. After a nine-month legal battle, seven Supreme Court judges sitting in Athens granted Australia's official request for Mokbel's extradition.The decision took less than five minutes to read out and appeared to initially confuse Mokbel, who had to rely on a translator to spell out the news as his distressed girlfriend Danielle McGuire looked on from the back row of the court.Greece's Justice Minister Sotirios Hatzigakis is now expected to take between one and two months to sign the official paperwork that will pave the way for Mokbel's return.However, Mokbel's lawyers are considering lodging an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights in a last-ditch bid to save him having to set foot on Australian soil.Lebanese officials have also issued arrest warrants for Mokbel, which could complicate his return to Melbourne, where he faces 20 criminal charges, including two of murder.The Supreme Court judges rejected five of the charges Mokbel is facing in Australia - one of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and four others related to drug trafficking - as grounds to extradite him.However, they agreed there were sufficient grounds to force him to return based on the 15 other charges, for which he can now be tried.Before handing down their decision, the judges asked Mokbel, dressed in a sombre dark suit, red tie and white shirt, if he had anything to say.He simply replied: "Thank you for hearing our case".As he was led from the court he exchanged "I love you" calls with Ms McGuire before his two security guards granted him a brief reunion with his baby daughter, Renate, in a corridor. Mokbel gave his little girl a quick peck on the cheek, telling her, "I love you, babe" and shared a quick embrace with Ms McGuire's eldest daughter, 12-year-old Brittany, before being led away to the court's cells.A disheartened Mokbel insisted to waiting reporters that he would never be able to get a fair trial in Australia if he was forced back to Melbourne.

Tony Mokbel could be back in Australia within months

Drugs fugitive Tony Mokbel could be back in Australia within months to face trial for murder after Greece's highest court cleared the wa...

Tony Mokbel legal team was still deciding whether to proceed with a possible appeal to the European Court of Human Rights,

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GQrO7sNoX03kI_U6DeH7mM5axXJ1-1eL-pss6ZEbiDLaaWw4GBrqUzJqHWhGDQNZ7gTvJfNP2UrKdVPyRLefxzefcS-MUQ3OPJsf7O8ldxg32kte991o9rvVOqUq07J1XJKqOVKteFU/s1600-h/wbMOKBEL_narrowweb__300x462,0.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172918307403154754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GQrO7sNoX03kI_U6DeH7mM5axXJ1-1eL-pss6ZEbiDLaaWw4GBrqUzJqHWhGDQNZ7gTvJfNP2UrKdVPyRLefxzefcS-MUQ3OPJsf7O8ldxg32kte991o9rvVOqUq07J1XJKqOVKteFU/s400/wbMOKBEL_narrowweb__300x462,0.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> Tony Mokbel has hired the lawyer who advised accused war criminal Ratko Mladic - the so-called "Butcher of Bosnia" - to fight his extradition from Greece. High-profile international lawyer Alexander Lykourezos will represent Mokbel, 42, at a final appeal hearing in the Supreme Court in Athens on Tuesday. Mr Lykourezos said rumours his new client was ready to roll over and return to Australia were false. "We will exhaust all legal weapons. We have grounds to fight and we are going to fight," he said. Mr Lykourezos said he saw similarities between the media treatment of Mokbel in Australia and the coverage of accused Bosnian-Serb warlord Mladic. The lawyer is friend and one-time legal adviser to Mladic. Both Mladic and Mokbel had been mistreated by the media, Mr Lykourezos said. Mladic, one of Europe's most wanted men, has been indicted by a UN war crimes tribunal on charges of genocide and other crimes against humanity. Mr Lykourezos has a history of accepting tough cases. He was part of an unsuccessful bid in 1999 to prosecute NATO for alleged war crimes over its bombing of Kosovo. Mokbel was in good shape physically and emotionally, Mr Lykourezos said. "He has good morale," he said. Mokbel's legal team was still deciding whether to proceed with a possible appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, he said.

Tony Mokbel legal team was still deciding whether to proceed with a possible appeal to the European Court of Human Rights,

Tony Mokbel has hired the lawyer who advised accused war criminal Ratko Mladic - the so-called "Butcher of Bosnia" - to fight his ...