A man will appear in court today charged with murdering his partner in Switzerland in 2000.
He was arrested in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn this morning.
The 42-year-old Sri Lankan national had been living in New Zealand since February 2001 under a false identity and travel documents, police said.
He had been wanted in Switzerland since the death of 23-year-old Kavitha Kandiah in Basel in December 2000.
The man, a small business operator, was charged with murder.
When he was arrested this morning he was also served with a letter from the Department of Internal Affairs, advising him that his citizenship could be revoked, police said. He was granted citizenship in 2004.
There is no extradition arrangement between New Zealand and Switzerland but police, through Interpol, had been working with Swiss authorities since confirming the man's identity and living arrangements in Auckland in late 2011, to carry out his arrest and start the process of his repatriation to Switzerland where he lived from 1990 until late 2000, police said.
He will appear in the Auckland District Court later today.
- Patrice Dougan of APNZ
