Unusual extradition fight plays out over priests' slayings

Source: Associated Press

Aug 18, 4:00 PM EDT

Unusual extradition fight plays out over priests' slayings

By JONATHAN DREW
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina is the unlikely scene of a court battle that could determine whether a former Salvadoran military colonel is prosecuted for the notorious slayings of Jesuit priests more than two decades ago during El Salvador's civil war.

An extradition hearing Wednesday for Inocente Orlando Montano Morales is the latest twist in a case that stretches back to 1989, when authorities say members of the military killed six priests and two witnesses. He is one of 20 former military members indicted by a court in Spain, the native country of five of the priests.

But Montano - who is in custody in North Carolina - is currently the only former officer within the reach of Spanish prosecutors. Most of the others are in El Salvador, where authorities have no plans to prosecute or extradite them because of an amnesty law for crimes committed during the 12-year civil war that ended in 1992.

Montano, 73, has denied involvement in the killings of the priests. A defense lawyer in the extradition case didn't respond to an email seeking comment.

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