In my opinion, it is shameful he ran away. C'mon -- it was only 12 months jailtime; most likely he would be let go after 3-4 months for a good behavior. Serving this time he would be, technically, off the LE charts. This way he is just another "criminal on the run" and now sure prosecutor will be looking for more jailtime.
It says he was sick and in another country and the article posted today says he's still sick - would you go to a country that you're not currently living in, when you're seriously ill and in hospital, in order to go on trial and then to go to jail? Hell, for all we know, he was in hospital and didn't hear about it until after the trial. We don't know the circumstances.
The problem is evidence and particularly eyewitness testimony (unreliable to begin with) decay with age. Banning absentia trials creates an incentive for people to hang out for a few years, then come back and say "all this evidence is too old, you should reasonably doubt its integrity".
Dunno. I thought the thread had wandered away from a specific case and was making a general comment. But yes, I believe that's something considered before proceeding in absentia.
