Italian government approves extradition of Easey Street accused to Australia

Rome: Italy has approved the Australian government’s extradition request for the prime suspect in the Easey Street murders, Perry Kouroumblis, to be transferred from a Rome prison to face charges in Australia.

Serena Tucci, the court-appointed lawyer representing Kouroumblis, said on Monday that Italy’s Justice Minister Carlo Nordio had agreed to Australia’s extradition request, and Kouroumblis had been informed of the decision at Rome’s Regina Coeli prison, where he has been held since his arrest on September 19.

Perry Kouroumblis says he wants to return to Australia to clear his name.

“The Italian government has granted the Australian government’s request for Perry Kouroumblis to be extradited,” Tucci told this masthead.

“The request was approved by the justice minister, and the Australian authorities have been notified. Kouroumblis has also been informed.

“Before extradition can take place, the request from the Australian authorities must receive final approval from a Rome judge, but this does not require a court hearing or any plea from Kouroumblis.”

No charges have been laid over the murders, and Kouroumblis maintains his innocence.

Judge Aldo Morgigni, from the Rome Court of Appeal, is expected to sign off on the document in the coming days, paving the way for Victorian homicide detectives to fly to Rome and transfer Kouroumblis to Melbourne.

Tucci said Kouroumblis had been fully aware of the proceedings and showed little reaction when she saw him at Regina Coeli prison on Monday. She said he had hired an Australian lawyer but declined to identify who it was.

Border police said Kouroumblis, 65, was alone when he was arrested at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport on September 19. He had flown from Athens to Rome and family members have speculated he was lured to the Italian capital for a potential business deal.

Kouroumblis’ lawyer in Italy Serena Tucci.

After his arrest, Fernando Speziali, chief commissioner of border police at Fiumicino Airport, said Italian police had received an Interpol alert on September 18 – a day before the arrest – and began monitoring flights.

“We received a report from Interpol, which had received information from our Australian colleagues, indicating the possible arrival of a wanted man coming to Italy from Greece,” Speziali told this masthead.

At the time, Speziali said Kouroumblis did not look like a businessman. He told police he was a tourist, but they did not question him further about why he was in the Italian capital. Kouroumblis, a dual Greek and Australian citizen, has been held at Regina Coeli, one of Italy’s notoriously overcrowded prisons, awaiting extradition after telling a Rome court he would not contest the request.

Perry Kouroumblis, the prime suspect in the Easey Street murders, was held at Regina Coeli, one of Italy’s most overcrowded and violent prisons.

He left Australia for Greece in 2017 after being asked by cold-case homicide detectives to take a DNA test for their investigation into the rape and murder of Suzanne Armstrong and the murder of Susan Bartlett in January 1977.

Kouroumblis had been working as a welder and living with his brother in the Greek capital before his arrest. He could not be extradited to Australia from Greece because of the country’s statute of limitations, which requires charges to be laid within 20 years of the alleged offence.

The house at 147 Easey Street, Collingwood, where the bodies of housemates Suzanne Armstrong, 28, and Susan Bartlett, 27, were discovered with multiple stab wounds on January 13, 1977.Credit: Fairfax Media

That provision does not apply in Italy, so police were able to arrest him as soon as he touched down in Rome. Previous attempts through diplomatic channels to have him returned to Melbourne previously failed, leading him to be put on an international watch list.

In a previous interview, Tucci said her client had been shocked at his arrest and had found his detention challenging, particularly because he did not understand Italian and had no family members in Rome.

Inmates have rioted inside Regina Coeli several times in the past few months. In one riot, prisoners set fire to mattresses in their cells. Tucci said Kouroumblis was not affected by the riots but was relying on prison volunteers for clothing and towels.

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