Legality of Bulgarian national's arrest contested

PROMINENT Cape Town criminal defence attorney William Booth challenged the legality of his client, Bulgarian national, Stanislav Stamenov’s arrest as he made his first appearance at the Wynberg Magistrate's Court yesterday.

- MURRAY SWART

Booth argued that proper extradition procedures were not followed.

Stamenov, 41, was arrested on Friday morning at his home by the SAPS National Intervention Unit.

Stamenov’s arrest made front-page news a month ago after it emerged that he had been working as a personal trainer at a gym in Constantia.

He is sought by Romanian authorities, who have stated that he was sentenced in 2009 to 16 years’ imprisonment in connection with heroin trafficking offences. He was placed on an Interpol red notice, a request circulated to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition. Interpol has clarified that a red notice is not an international arrest warrant and that any arrest must comply with domestic law.

Addressing the court, Booth argued that the arrest did not comply with the formal process contemplated under South African extradition law.