Italy blocks extradition of priest accused of murder and torture in Argentina

On Jan 13, 2024

Police patrol downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. Days after taking office, Argentine President Javier Milei's government announced drastic economic measures that angered some social and labor groups, and warned it would crack down on any protests blocking streets. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Italy’s justice minister has to extradite a priest sought by Buenos Aires for colluding with the country’s bloody 1976-1983 military dictatorship, human rights advocates said on Friday, January 12.

le Monde reported minister Carlo Nordio ruled against extraditing Franco Reverberi on health grounds, reversing an earlier decision and overruling Italy’s top criminal court, which had approved the extradition in October.

According to Minister Nordio, don Reverberi is in old age, his heart is weak, and the likelihood that he will never return to Italy would be a source of undue stress,” he said.

Reverberi is charged with collusion for allegedly being part of a group that “illegally kidnapped political opponents, taking them to a secret place where they were tortured and one of them died,” Arturo Salerni, a lawyer for Argentina, told AFP in August.

An estimated 30,000 people disappeared during the military dictatorship, whose “Dirty War” against opponents unleashed a wave of kidnappings, torture, rapes and murder.

More than 1,000 people have now been convicted of crimes against humanity in Argentina related to the dictatorship since trials resumed in mid-2000, following more than a decade of amnesty laws and other controversial measures.