HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s public prosecution service says a convicted sexual offender who fled Canada in 2022 has been extradited from Italy to serve the remainder of his sentence in Canada.
Bassam Al-Rawi was convicted of sexually assaulting a Halifax woman in August 2020.
The agency says he fled Canada after he sought leave to appeal the conviction and was released on bail.
His release conditions included a requirement that he continue to live in Ottawa, but in May 2022 authorities learned he had left for Montreal, where he was joined by his wife and one-year-old son before they fled to Iraq.
Al-Rawi was taken into custody in Italy in September 2023 and returned to Canada on Thursday following an unsuccessful appeal of an Italian extradition order.
Officials say this type of extradition process typically takes several years to complete, but the public prosecution service says the case was expedited through an extraordinary level of international co-operation.
“The successful extradition of Bassam Al-Rawi in less than one year is a remarkable achievement,” Jennifer MacLellan, a member of the public prosecution service, said in a statement.
She cited the help of Halifax Regional Police, Correctional Service Canada and the International Assistance Group within the federal Department of Justice.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
