Courts

High Court orders extradition of Kinahan hitman to Lithuania

International hitman Imre Arakas allegedly supplied guns to gang involved in the murder of a pop star’s lover

File photograph of Imre Arakas

Paul Neilan
Mon Nov 7 2022 - 13:22

Notorious international hitman Imre Arakas, who is alleged to have supplied guns to an organised gang in the murder of a Lithuanian pop star’s lover, is to be surrendered to that country to face trial, the High Court ruled today.

Arakas (63), whose last address was in Sopruse, Tallinn, Estonia, is wanted to face charges which include a count of murder as well as firearms and conspiracy-related charges in relation to the shooting of Deimantas Bugavicius in November 2015.

At the High Court on Monday, Mr Justice Paul Burns said there was no ambiguity in the warrant received from Lithuania for Arakas’ surrender. Additional information had been supplied to Irish authorities stating that Arakas was to be tried with murder, possession of weapons and criminal damage when participating in preparatory acts before the murder.

Mr Justice Burns said the detail, time and location of the alleged offences had been supplied and that there was no issue with those offences not corresponding with Irish law.

READ MORE

The judge said the respondent had not rebutted the presumption that Arakas was to be tried and that the decision had been made to try Arakas in Lithuania for the alleged offences.

Arakas, who was present in court for Monday’s hearing, spoke only to confirm to his barrister, Aoife O’Leary BL, that he had no issue with flying nor had any outstanding Covid-related issues.

Lawyers for the Estonian native had opposed his extradition to Lithuania as they argued the authorities there had “changed the narrative” in their description of the charges he faces. Arakas (63) is wanted for murder but had challenged his surrender on the grounds that no charge had been “formalised” against him.

The State had written to authorities in Lithuania to clarify what exactly Arakas was wanted for in their bid to extradite him over the murder of Mr Bugavicius.

An eyewitness to the murder of the pop star’s lover has said that the hitman, who has also been jailed here for his role in a Kinahan cartel murder plot, was not present at the scene. Arakas told gardai that he was in Spain on the relevant dates.

However, Lithuanian authorities allege that Arakas was part of a three-man gang that conspired to murder Mr Bugavicius, who was alleged to have had an affair with pop star Vita Jakutiene.

The ex-wrestler was jailed by the Special Criminal Court here for six years in December 2018, after he admitted to conspiring with others to murder James ‘Mago’ Gately in Northern Ireland between April 3 and 4, 2017.

The court heard that Arakas was a member of the Estonian Defence League in the 1990s and was involved in the separatist movement from the USSR. The married father of two had been “scarred and marked deeply” by imprisonment in Russia, the court also heard.

He has previous convictions which include causing deliberate bodily harm, escaping from prison and unlawful handling of firearms.

Arakas, who appeared in the court sporting a long beard and long, grey hair, was previously jailed by the non-jury Special Criminal Court after he pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to murder Mr Gately in Northern Ireland between April 3 and 4, 2017. He was contracted by the Kinahan crime gang to assassinate Mr Gately and had told his associates in coded text messages that he would take out his target with “one shot to the head”.

Passing sentence at the Special Criminal Court, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said Arakas had agreed to the “vital role” of pulling the trigger for financial gain and he was prepared to offer his “own detail” on how the murder of Mr Gately was to be performed.

Arakas had travelled to Ireland from Alicante in Spain on April 3, 2017, for the purpose of killing Mr Gately and has been in custody in Ireland since April 2017.

LATEST STORIES