Arrested on the first day of his Italian vacation by the Carabinieri who mistook him for a wanted criminal, a Romanian tourist spent nearly a month in prison before being released, his lawyer and the Italian press reported Friday.

“The nightmare is over,” said Ovidiu A., a thirty-year-old Romanian, as he left Pordenone prison (northern Italy) on Thursday, according to Corriere del Veneto. “He was finally able to hug his wife and daughters,” who had been waiting for him since August 24, the day of his arrest, his lawyer Stefano De Rosa told AFP.

The holidays that turn into a nightmare

Originally from Iasi, Romania, the tourist had come to spend a few days on vacation with his family in Caorle, near Venice. But he had the misfortune of sharing the same name as another Romanian man sentenced to two years in prison in Italy for aggravated robbery and wanted by the police. The name, registered at the hotel, triggered an alert, and the tourist was taken away by the carabinieri after his first breakfast.

A confusion that is difficult to clarify

The lawyer had to fight to recover the documents proving that there was a mix-up, because the first trial for aggravated robbery dates back to 2014 and the final conviction to 2020, he explained. “The computer systems of the police, the carabinieri, the court and the prison are not linked and I had to ask everyone to send me the documents,” he explained.

According to Corriere del Veneto, the tourist and his family are expected to stay in Italy for a few days to resume their vacation before returning to Romania.