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| |  | | Alfredo Astiz | | | judgement place : | France  | | status : | Sentenced | | particulars : | Sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia in France; still at liberty in Argentina | | position : | Lieutenant then captain of a war frigate |
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| | | | In 1985, France issued an international arrest warrant against the “Blond Angel” in the affair concerning the Sisters Alice Domon and Leonie Duquet, who had been abducted on the 8th and 10th December 1977 respectively. There being no extradition convention between France and Argentina, Astiz nevertheless remained in Argentina.
Finally, in Argentina in1987, the trial concerning the two nuns was opened at the Buenos Aires Federal Tribunal. The complaint was directed against 21 naval officers and non-commissioned officers, one of whom was Alfredo Astiz. Sixteen witnesses were summoned, but all of them were former Montoneros militants, a guerrilla organisation under the dictatorship. They were deemed to be “prejudiced” and their evidence was not taken into account. The Blond Angel left the courtroom a free man, acquitted for lack of proof.
On 20 October 1989, France announced the trial, in absentia, of Alfredo Astiz for his involvement in the disappearance of the two nuns. Astiz, was formally accused of complicity in illegal arrests and sequestration of persons accompanied by bodily torture, and the Paris Trial Chamber referred his case to the “Cour d’assises”.
On 16 March 1990, the trial opened before the Paris “Cour d’assises”. Astiz was sentenced to life imprisonment. With this judgement, France confines Astiz to Argentina, since every country bound by an extradition treaty with France could henceforth put him under arrest.
In July 2001, then in November of the same year, two international arrest warrants were issued against Alfredo Astiz. The first was by Italy (in the affair concerning the abduction of Angela Maria Aieta, Juan Pegoraro and his daughter Susanna), and the second by the Swedish judiciary (for the abduction and murder of Dagmar Hagelin). Both requests were rejected several months later.
In July 2003, the Argentinean decree prohibiting extradition was repealed. On the same day Astiz was once again arrested at his home in Mar del Plata. The following day France requested his extradition. At the beginning of September, Astiz was released only to be rearrested on the 16 September. On 23 September 2003 Argentina refused to extradite him to France. Astiz was then released from prison, once again a free man. | |    | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | nationality : | | | Argentina | | | date of birth : | | | 17.11.1950 | | | last time seen : | | | Argentina | | | charges : | | | Forced disappearances
Torture
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 21.12.2006 |
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