Colombia announces it will ask Israel to extradite Yair Klein, a mercenary convicted by a Colombian court for training death squads from the Medellin cartel and paramilitary organizations.
According to Interior and Justice Minister German Vargas Lleras, Israeli authorities may receive an extradition request next week, when a Colombian judge has approved the request.
“The government will request the extradition of Yair Klein. The ministry is preparing to do so next week. When the Execution of Sentences judge that is in charge of the matter has certified the data we need, we will formally be asking the state of Israel for this criminal,” Vargas Lleras was quoted as saying by newspaper El Colombiano.
Klein was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Colombian judge, who considered it proven the Israeli mercenary trained death squads for Pablo Escobar and the paramilitary groups that took the drug lord’s place in running the narco-trafficking industry after his death.
The Israeli citizen was held in a Russian jail for three years after Interpol issued an international arrest warrant against Klein. After the European Court for Human Rights turned down the extradition amid fears of human rights abuses, Klein was flown to his home country where he is at liberty.
