The extradition procedure of the Mapuche leader Facundo Jones Hualawhich is required by Chile to complete his sentence for the crimes of burning a house and illegal possession of a firearm, will continue in Argentina once the neighboring country formalizes the request.
Chile has already completed its judicial steps in pursuit of advancing in the extradition of Jones Huala, who remains detained in the federal prison of Esquel at the disposal of the Federal Court of Bariloche.
Yesterday the Court of Appeals of Valdivia formalized the request for extradition to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which must transmit it to the Argentine authorities, as well as the request to set preventive detention for the convicted person until his transfer to Chile is completed.
Formally, Chile has 30 days to formalize your request before the Argentine Justice, although it expedited the deadlines and will possibly do so in the next few days.
The Law on International Cooperation in Criminal Matters establishes a series of criteria for the extradition process.
The step by step of extradition
As explained in the Extradition Guide of the Public Ministry of the Nation, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, once the formal request for extradition has been received, “must carry out a rigorous analysis of formal requirements of the extradition request, the possible grounds for refusal and possible additional information requirements”.
As a first measure, once the Government of Chile formalizes the request to extradite Jones Huala, the The Federal Court of Bariloche must hold a hearing within 24 hours with the aim of “informing and listening to the detained person”, who can designate a defense attorney and who knows the reasons for his detention.
In this instance Jones Huala can “give consent” to be extradited, something that seems distant due to the previous expressions of Mapuche organizations that reject the extradition and also in relation to the proposal of his defense in Chile, who wanted house arrest in Bariloche for “family ties”.
In any case, if he accepts extradition to Chile, the federal judge should decide immediately.
Otherwise, if the convicted person refuses extradition, an extradition trial will proceed in which the Federal Court of Bariloche (which is currently in charge of Judge Gustavo Villanueva) must decide whether or not the extradition is appropriate. This sentence can be “Susceptible to ordinary appeal before the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.”
In this trial, the parties should not advance in determining the responsibility of Jones Huala in a crime, only analyze whether it is appropriate to refer him to Chile, according to current regulations.
“Once a decision of the Judiciary is signed that declares the origin of an extradition request, the third stage called ‘final decision’, which is at the head of Executive power which, in turn, has delegated that responsibility to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship”, says the document prepared by the National Attorney.
It is clarified that if the Justice considers that it is not appropriate to extradite him, that will be the final resolution and the National Executive Branch will only limit itself to informing the requesting country of this measure.
On the other hand, in case the extradition is authorized, the Court must send the file to the Chancellery so that it definitively resolves whether or not to grant extradition, within the ten business days following receipt. In this instance, you can proceed or deny it for a series of grounds established by law.
If the extradition is finally granted, as the Mauricio Macri government defined it in 2018, Argentina notifies Chile of this decision and the neighboring country immediately implements the transfer under its charge.
In the first extradition process, Jones Huala remained detained in Argentina for more than a year. A trial was held in Bariloche that determined the extradition admissible, but the defense appealed and the case reached the Supreme Court, which later ratified Judge Villanueva’s resolution and finally the National Executive signed the decree to validate that decision and for Chile to transfer the detainee. to your country.
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