The Attorney General of Brazil, Henrique Fonseca de Araujo, has rejected extradition requests by Israel, Poland and Austria for wanted Nazi war criminal Gustav Franz Wagner who has been living in Brazil for nearly 30 years. In an opinion presented to the Federal Supreme Court in Brasilia, he denied Israel’s right to prosecute Wagner on grounds that Israel did not exist when the fugitive committed his crimes.
He ruled out Poland and Austria because of the statute of limitations but agreed that Wagner could be extradited to West Germany if the Bonn authorities provided new evidence that the statute of limitations was interrupted in Wagner’s case. Attorneys representing the four countries will be given an opportunity to contest the Attorney General’s ruling. Wagner is presently confined in a mental hospital in Brasilia.
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