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| Caribbean-Latin America | |
| Basque terr continues to live the high life in Oogo-land | |
| 2009-08-06 | |
| Ignacio EchevarrÃa Landazábal, an alleged member of ETA, the Basque separatist group, may continue living in Venezuela, as he has done for the past 15 years, since the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) denied the extradition petition made against EchevarrÃa. The decision was adopted on Tuesday by the Criminal Court, Supreme Tribunal of Justice, which upheld the allegations filed by the Attorney General Office that the crime charged against EchevarrÃa lapsed, sources of the TSJ reported. EchevarrÃa has been charged with terrorist murder (homicide) by the Spanish judicial authorities. They argue that he participated in 1981 in a failed attack against a newspaper in Bilbao. A journalist was injured in the attack. The last action of the Spanish judiciary system against the alleged ETA member, before asking for his extradition from Venezuela this year, came in November 1993, that is, more than 15 years ago. Under the Venezuelan law, that is the time limit for prosecution of murder cases. Under the extradition treaty between Venezuela and Spain, if the crime allegedly committed by a person in either of the two countries lapses, the relevant authorities have no obligation to hand over the defendant.
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| Posted by:Steve White |