Alexander Adamescu granted permission to appeal against extradition

Alexander Adamescu has been granted permission to appeal against the decision of District Judge Zani at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to order his extradition to Romania. Mr Adamescu is sought for extradition on two charges of bribing judges. Mr Adamescu’s initial application for permission was refused by the High Court on all six grounds. His renewed application was refused on ground one, abuse of process, and the decision on the alternate grounds was stayed pending the decision of the High Court in Varga & Turcanu v Romania, in respect of prison conditions in Romania.

Mr Adamescu was first arrested in London in June 2016 and his extradition hearing took place over six days between November 2017 and January 2018. Following the final submissions in the hearing and the production to the court by Mr Adamescu of a forged document, which resulted in his remand in custody, District Judge Zani ordered his extradition.

In granting Mr Adamescu leave to appeal on grounds two to five (out of six) the High Court considered it reasonably arguable that the District Judge’s reasoning and analysis was inadequate in respect of his apparent rejection of evidence called on behalf of Mr Adamescu, in particular evidence from two expert witnesses as to the political system in Romania and its bearing on Mr Adamescu’s prosecution.

Further, the court granted permission to appeal in respect of the District Judge’s dismissal without reasons of Mr Adamescu’s argument that his diagnosis of bipolar disorder was an important factor to take into account when considering his challenge on the grounds of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the prohibition on inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.