Panama to Seek Posada's
Extradition
A team of Panamanian
lawyers said they would
file a lawsuit to demand
the extradition of four
Cuban-born terrorists
from the United States.
The accused terrorists,
including world-famous
criminal Luis Posada
Carriles, travelled to
the US city of Miami on
August 26, 2004, after
Panamanian President
Mireya Moscoso pardoned
them.
The Supreme Court of
Justice ruled on Monday
that the presidential
pardon was
unconstitutional.
The case is not closed,
it never was, because
there was a lawsuit on
unconstitutionality (of
the pardon), lawyer
Rafael Rodriguez, one of
the members of the team,
said.
Posada Carriles, Pedro
Remon, Gaspar Jimenez
and Guillermo Novo were
arrested in Panama City
in November 2000, during
the 10th Ibero-American
Summit, as they were
planning to assassinate
Cuban President Fidel
Castro.
Attorney Julio Berrios
pointed out that the
extradition request is
based on the 1904
bilateral treaty on
extradition, which is
still in force and rules
relations between Panama
and the United States in
that field.
It is clear (in the
treaty) that if Panama
requests the extradition
of a criminal, a warrant
for the arrest of that
person must be issued to
extradite him, he added.
Berrios noted that the
United States must
comply with its
commitments to other
states and must send the
four criminals back to
Panama, where they must
serve an eight-year
sentence handed over to
them in 2002.
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