The recapture of Shergili Farjiani in Italy was only known last Tuesday, but the Georgian citizen who escaped from Vale de Judeus prison in September had already been found – and is being held – by the Italian authorities, in Padua, last week, December 5, during a traffic operation. He turned himself in under a false name, but an investigation by Italian authorities concluded that Farjiani was one of the five men wanted by the Magistrates’ Police three months ago.
The Italian authorities themselves provide detailed information about the detention of Shergili Farjiani, which explains i statement that the Padua police were carrying out a traffic inspection on Thursday morning last week, at 10:20 amwhen the agents saw a car with French registration “driven by a man who displayed uncertainty while driving”.
Vale de Judeus: Three months after the escape, three prisoners have already been recaptured. Shergili Farjiani is the first foreigner received
A source connected to the investigation in Portugal says that the Italian police found Shergili Farjiani “in an area where there are a large number of Maghreb and oriental citizens [da Europa] devoted to theft and robbery.” The Padua police have “their own team to investigate this type of travel crime” and it was those elements that led the investigation that ended up establishing the true identity of the Georgian who fled Vale de Judeus on September 7.
With the Citroen already stopped, says the statement of the Italian police, the agents asked for the respective identification documents – from Shergili Farjiani and the car he was driving -, but the man, who did not reveal his identity, answered still, “I did not understand the police and the documents were not with him“, the document reads.
Shergili Farjiani agents gave a false namebut taking into account that he had no identification with him, Taken to the police station. He was then “identified as a 42-year-old man, born in Georgia, with numerous criminal records related to property crimes”, as well as “a man an arrest warrant was issued in December 2021” by the Greek authorities, because this Georgian also committed crimes in Greece and has to serve a one-year prison term in this country.
At this point, when the investigation into the true identity of this man was in its infancy, the Padua police did not yet know that they were facing one of the five fugitives from Vale de Judeus prison, with an arrest warrant issued by Europol. It was only when one of the police searched in “open sources” that he realized that Portugal and Greece had issued arrest warrants at the European level.
Since the agents first realized that Greece wanted Shergili Farjiani, the respective information was sent to the Greek authorities and only then did the data reach Portugal. As a source close to the investigation explained to the Observer, Contact between the Magistrates’ Police and the Italian authorities was only made on 10 December — three days after the Greek authorities had already confirmed the request for an international warrant to be issued for Farjiani — because it would take longer for the investigation to determine that the fugitive was also wanted by authorities in Portugal.
Still himself it was not possible to determine how long Shergili Farjiani had been in that region from northern Italy. But the arrest – and the fact that two countries, Portugal and Greece, have international arrest warrants – now raises the question of the Georgian’s fate. In Greece, Farjiani is serving a five-year prison sentence, following a five-year sentence for aggravated robbery committed in 2013. In Portugal, he was serving a seven-year sentence (due to end in 2026) for same crimes.
Shergili Farjiani was the third fugitive from Vale de Judeus to be recaptured since escaping from prison on 7 September. In the statement announcing the arrest of Georgia, the Judicial Police reported on the latest incident of the “Return” operation: “The escapee from Vale de Judeus Prison, Shergili Farjiani, age 40, was recaptured today in Italy, by the Judicial Police (PJ), after a continuous, complex and uninterrupted investigation and intelligence gathering work by these Police, since the day of the escape.”
Operation RETURN III
The escapee from the Vale de Judeus Prison Establishment, Shergili Farjiani, aged 40, was recaptured in Italy today at the ???? @PJudiciaria after continuous, complex and uninterrupted research and information gathering. pic.twitter.com/MXxhbCel9y
— Judiciary Police (@PJudiciaria) December 10, 2024
The same statement said that the police operation to recapture this Georgian citizen with an extensive criminal career, such as crimes of violent theft and forgery of documents, had “collaboration between the Italian authorities”, for which Europol had “red news”.
This Wednesday, the national director of the PJ emphasized the “essential work” of the Italian authorities, which led to the recapture of Farjiani. “We always talked among ourselves that the south of Europe is an area where they could be,” said Luís Neves in statements to the RTP, revealing that one of the measures implemented three months ago was the establishment of contacts with authorities in the regions where the five were more likely to find each other. “We were talking on different levels with colleagues, regarding the evolution of the images, and an operation by the Polizia di Stato took place in an area where criminals, offenders of different types are present”, he affirms.
Valley of the Jews. PJ’s national director highlights the “essential work” of the Italian police in arresting fugitives
The Minister of Justice also praised the investigation today. “These results take time, they require a lot of thought, a lot of work behind the scenes and the Judicial Police deserve all my trust”, said Rita Alarcão Júdice, also on the sidelines of the conference organized by the Judicial Police to celebrate. the International Day Against Corruption. “We are very confident in the results and very happy that it was done through good international collaboration. It is a great sign,” emphasized the person responsible for the Department of Justice.
