MEXICO: THE SUPREME COURT ORDERS THE EXTRADITION TO SPAIN OF AN ARGENTINE EX-NAVY OFFICER FOR HIS PART IN ARGENTINA'S "DIRTY WAR" DURING THE 1970'S

Record ID: 645893

  • Title: MEXICO: THE SUPREME COURT ORDERS THE EXTRADITION TO SPAIN OF AN ARGENTINE EX-NAVY OFFICER FOR HIS PART IN ARGENTINA'S "DIRTY WAR" DURING THE 1970'S
  • Date: 10th June 2003
  • Summary: (W8) MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JUNE 10, 2003) (REUTERS) MLV: ARGENTINES WITH BANNER SAYING: "CAVALLO TO SPAIN" WS: OF INTERIOR OF COURTROOM SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JUDGE HECTOR SILVA READING THE COURT ORDER: "The sentence is modified and the protection is denied to Ricardo Miguel Cavallo for the acts that he is accused of, referring to genocide and terrorism." MV: WOMAN HOLDING "CAVALLO TO SPAIN" BANNER MV: CHIEF JUSTICE CLOSING THE SESSION MLV: ARGENTINES HUGGING SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINE RESIDENT IN MEXICO AND FORMER POLITICAL PRISONER CRISTINA BOTINELLI SAYING: "We are very happy for the long process where finally in the name of humanity I believe this is a marvellous precedent." ARGENTINES CELEBRATING SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VANESSA DREE, ARGENTINE NATURALISED AS A MEXICAN, SAYING: "Because he kidnapped children and I was one of them - at six years old I was kidnapped with my cousins and my brother. I am here, thank God, and for nothing more than to ask for justice." EXTERIOR OF THE COURT ARGENTINES WITH A BANNER IN FAVOUR OF EXTRADITION
  • Embargoed: 25th June 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Reuters ID: LVAB229G82XIKSVCWABSJYXD7YFV
  • Story Text: Mexico's highest court has ordered the extradition of an Argentine ex-Navy officer to Spain, where he faces charges of genocide and terrorism connected to Argentina's "dirty war"
    of the 1970s.
    Mexico's highest court on Tuesday (June 10) ordered the extradition of an Argentine ex-Navy officer to Spain, where he faces charges of genocide and terrorism connected to Argentina's "dirty war" of the 1970s.
    "The sentence is modified and the protection is denied to Ricardo Miguel Cavallo for the acts that he is accused of, referring to genocide and terrorism," said Judge Hector Silva, reading the Court's decision.
    A majority of the Supreme Court judges voted to extradite Ricardo Cavallo, who was arrested in Mexico in 2000 and is accused by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon of committing human rights atrocities against Spanish-born citizens in Argentina.
    A Supreme Court official said it would only be a "question of days" before Cavallo was sent to Spain.
    Argentines in Mexico, many of whom had been affected by the military dictatorship, celebrated upon hearing the news.
    "Because he [Cavallo] kidnapped children and I was one of them - at six years old I was kidnapped with my cousins and my brother. I am here, thank God, and for nothing more than to ask for justice," said Vanessa Dree, an Argentine who had been naturalised as a Mexican.
    Mexico had resolved to extradite the Argentine last year but his lawyers obtained a stay while they appealed the decision.
    Cavallo, with fair hair and glasses, was detained in the Mexican resort of Cancun bound for Argentina after a Mexican newspaper accused him of being a former dirty war intelligence agent who went by the alias "Serpico".
    Some 30,000 people died or disappeared during a crackdown on leftist rebels and suspected civilian supporters during military rule in Argentina in the late-1970s.
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