Brazil?s Supreme Court Denies Paraguay Extradition Request of General Oviedo

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Friday, February 1, 2002
Author: 
Bruce Zagaris
Volume: 
18
Issue: 
2
51
Abstract: 
On December 17, 2001, the Brazil Supreme Court announced it denial of Paraguayt?s petition to extradite former army chief Lino Oviedo on charges of planning the assassination in 1999 of Paraguayan Vice President Luis Maria Argana. The Supreme Court denied the request because it was ?politically motivated.? Paraguay had already suffered setbacks in the cases that presaged the decision. On October 11, 2001, the media reported that a Brazilian federal judge has temporarily blocked a extradition request by Paraguay for Gen. Lino Oiedo, the former head general. The judge based his decision on the inability of Gen. Oviedo to obtain due process on his request for refugee status. On December 17, 2001, 11 Supreme Court judges unanimously denied the extradition request because it was politically motivated. Oviedo?s counsel contended Paraguayan President Lusi Gonzalex Macchi, a rival of Ovido, was behind a political persecution campaign against Oviedo.