Most-wanted man in Italy arrested in Belgium

Belgian police arrested one of the most wanted men for murder in Italy on Monday morning in a village in West Flanders, the Belgian press reported on Wednesday.

The man, Erjon S., was sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment for the murder of a prostitute in Italy. He had eluded the authorities for almost 15 years and had started a new life in Belgium, according to the newspaper Het Nieuws Laaste.

Betty Yadira Ramirez Ponce was found dead on February 20, 2000 on the bank of the River Po near the city of Piacenza in Italy.

Italian police later identified the suspected killers as three Albanian men, all on the run. The suspects were convicted of murder and then sentenced in absentia to 23 years in prison.

After 15 years, Italian investigators have finally managed to locate one of the murderers who lived in Belgium.

The man had applied for asylum as an Albanian refugee. He used a false name and a false date of birth and was naturalized Belgian.

Erjon S., 37 years old, lives in Geluwe, a village in West Flanders. He married a Flemish woman who did not know his past. They had three children together.

The procuratorate of Ypres said Wednesday that the man, currently held by the federal police and prosecutors, will be probably handed over to the Italian authorities. Endit