A Greek-Australian man wanted for 27 years in Australia for alleged murder will be released from detention a month after his arrest in southern Greece pending a ruling on his extradition, state ERT television reported Wednesday.
ERT said James Dalamangas’ request has been granted, on condition that he does not leave the country and appears at his local police station twice a month.
Dalamangas, 55, was arrested last month near the seaside town of Aigio in the Peloponnese region following a major police operation. A Greek court subsequently sentenced him to two years and nine months in prison for weapons-law violations and giving false testimony, but the sentence was suspended pending appeal.
Described as one of Australia’s most wanted fugitives, he is accused of fatally stabbing another Greek Australian, George Giannopoulos, outside a Sydney nightclub in 1999. The father of two had been trying to break up a fight when he was stabbed, police said.
A panel of judges in the northwestern Peloponnesian city of Patra will rule on Australia’s extradition request for Dalamangas.
