CHILE: ARGENTINA FORMALLY REQUESTS THE EXTRADITION OF FORMER ARGENTINIAN PRESIDENT CARLOS MENEM

Record ID: 678543

  • Title: CHILE: ARGENTINA FORMALLY REQUESTS THE EXTRADITION OF FORMER ARGENTINIAN PRESIDENT CARLOS MENEM
  • Date: 5th May 2004
  • Summary: (W1)SANTIAGO, CHILE (MAY 5, 2004) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CARLOS MENEM IN HIS STUDY 04 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 20th May 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SANTIAGO, CHILE
  • Country: Chile
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA1ZZV09TYMTNFE5GTZURHYTCSQ
  • Story Text: Argentina formally requests extradition of ex-President Carlos Menem from Chile on corruption charges.
    The Chilean Supreme Court will decide on the extradition of Carlos Menem, who is wanted for questioning by Argentine federal judge Jorge Urso over the alleged embezzlement of up to $60 million during his 10-year presidency.
    Menem, 73, is accused of fraudulent use of public funds during his time as president from 1989 to 1999.
    The former Argentine president, who is married to a former Miss Universe and has an infant son, has vowed not to go before a judge again, having been imprisoned three times before. He claims he is the victim of a political vendetta orchestrated by the government of Nestor Kirchner, who defeated him in Argentina's last presidential elections.
    "This is a political persecution by one Minister, the Minister of Justice, Beliz, who also worked for me and who works for President Kirchner," Menem told Reuters during an interview on Wednesday (May 5).
    "What I think, and to some extent what my lawyers in Argentina and in Chile think, is that there can be a rejection of the request to extradite. Now, the lawyer in Argentina, or the judge in Argentina can take these two paths; he can have a Chilean representative come in his name and interrogate me, or he himself can come and interrogate me here in Chile."
    Menem was allegedly involved in the embezzlement of tens of millions of dollars during the building of two prisons. Menem is also facing investigation into undeclared funds held in Swiss bank accounts, and charges of arms trafficking to Ecuador and Croatia during his time in office.
    Argentine Judge Urso asked Interpol to issue an arrest warrant for Mr. Menem after he repeatedly failed to turn up for questioning.
    When Mr. Menem first became president in 1989, he was seen as something of an economic savior, bringing stability to a country buffeted by hyperinflation and rising unemployment. But by the time he left office a decade later, his administration was already being accused of rampant corruption.
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