(13 Jul 2007)
1. Various exteriors of Athens courthouse with cars and people passing
2. Police van leaving the courthouse (NOTE: This is not the van carrying Tony Mokbel)
3. Tony Mokbel’s girlfriend, Danielle McGuire, walking by with baby and other members of his family
4. McGuire walking through gate carrying baby
5. Yiannis Vlachos, Mokbel’s lawyer standing outside court talking with reporters
6. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Yiannis Vlachos, Mokbel’s lawyer:
“Today the trial of Anthony Mokbel was postponed yet again, for the charges of use of a forged passport. They are the passports with which he was arrested in Greece, which he had in his possession. The court was postponed until the 24th of July because of a strike by the official court translators. Yesterday, the Greek Judiciary received Australia’s request for his extradition. It is in the hands of a judiciary panel and we await for the first court date to be set to discuss the request.”
7. Vlachos standing outside court talking with reporters
8. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Yiannis Vlachos, Mokbel’s lawyer:
“His opinion is that the evidence with which which the Australians are trying to back up the two charges of murder is non-existent – they are based on two eyewitness accounts from people whom he has never seen in his life and with whom he has nothing to do. And, of course, he strongly denies that he has ever had any involvement in murder.”
9. Various exteriors of courthouse with cars passing
STORYLINE:
The trial of a convicted drug baron wanted in Australia for murder and drug trafficking has been postponed.
41-year-old Australian Tony Mokbel was arrested last month in a seaside Athens suburb after he was found to be in possession of a false passport.
His trial, on charges of carrying a forged passport, will be delayed until July 24 because of a strike by official court translators, Mokbel’s lawyer told reporters outside Athens courthouse on Friday.
Mokbel had fled Australia in March 2006 during his trial on charges of drugs trafficking.
He was later convicted in absentia of cocaine trafficking and sentenced to at least nine years in prison.
If the Greek court convicts him of possessing a forged passport and driving license – both misdemeanours – he faces a maximum 12-month sentence.
Australia submitted an extradition request to return Mokbel to his native Australia where he is wanted in connection with drugs charges and murder.
But Mokbel’s lawyer Yiannis Vlachos said that he was not sure when the court date to discuss extradition proceedings would be set.
“Yesterday, the Greek Judiciary received Australia’s request for his extradition,” he told reporters outside the courthouse.
“It is in the hands of a judiciary panel and we await for the first court date to be set to discuss the request,” he added.
Vlachos said his client firmly denied any allegations of murder.
“His opinion is that the evidence with which which the Australians are trying to back up the two charges of murder is non-existent – they are based on two eyewitness accounts from people whom he has never seen in his life and with whom he has nothing to do,” he said.
Australian Federal Police said the international warrant was based on four Australian warrants: For the alleged importation of 2.9 kilograms (6.4 pounds) of cocaine, the alleged ordering of 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of amphetamine and another substance from Europe, three counts of trafficking drugs, and the murder of underworld figure Lewis Moran.

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