Case against Bulgarian fugitive postponed

The case of a Bulgarian man wanted by Interpol has hit a snag in a South African court.

A ruling on whether Stainslav Stamenov was lawfully arrested has been postponed by another week.

Stamenov was arrested in Cape Town last Friday after an Interpol red notice was issued for his arrest.

In 2009, he was convicted and sentenced by a Romanian court to 16 years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking syndicate.

However, his lawyer, William Booth has challenged the legality of the arrest, arguing that Romanian authorities failed to formally submit an extradition request to secure a valid arrest warrant.

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The court was expected to rule on the matter today, but further submissions from the defence have delayed proceedings.

Booth now claims his client may not be the man wanted in Romania.

He's pointed to spelling errors in his name on several official documents, including court records supplied by Romanian authorities.

But the prosecution insists the police arrested the right man. 

"What is not doubted is his date of birth as well as his picture, which is what Advocate Maresa Engelbrecht argued that the person in the dock is the person who is requested in Romania," said NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.

The case has been postponed to Tuesday for a ruling on the matter.