Bail decision for accused war criminal delayed [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Canadian Press

Bail decision for accused war criminal delayed
The Canadian Press Posted: Feb 25, 2011 6:39 PM MT Last Updated: Feb 25, 2011 6:39 PM MT

A man accused of war crimes in Guatemala and facing extradition to the United States is a flight risk and should be denied bail, a lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice argued Friday. Jorge Vinicio Orantes Sosa, 52, has both Canadian and American citizenship and is charged in the U.S. with lying to get his papers.

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Sosa is accused of participating in a massacre in 1982 in a Guatemalan village where 251 men, women and children were killed.

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Sosa 'disappeared': U.S. lawyer
An arrest warrant for murder was issued in Guatemala years ago for Sosa. The U.S. indictment alleges he was the commanding officer of a patrol involved in attacks on the village of Las Dos Erres during the Guatemalan civil war and under the de facto presidency of Gen. Efrain Rios Montt.

"The special patrol proceeded to systematically kill the men, women and children at Dos Erres by, among other methods, hitting them in the head with a sledgehammer and throwing them into a well," reads the indictment.



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2011/02/25/calgary-jorge-sosa-guatemala-war-crimes-bail-hearing.html

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Earier story, arrested in Canada:

The Canadian Press
Date: Thursday Jan. 20, 2011 6:44 AM ET

http://images.ctv.ca.nyud.net:8090/archives/CTVNews/img2/20110120/470_terror_suspect2_1101202.jpg

CALGARY — Ottawa should review the criteria it uses to grant Canadian citizenship after a man accused of heinous war crimes in Guatemala nearly 30 years ago was arrested in Alberta this week, a former diplomat from the central American country said Wednesday.

Jorge Vinicio Orantes Sosa has both Canadian and American citizenship and is charged in the U.S. with making a false statement relating to naturalization and unlawful procurement of citizenship or naturalization. He was arrested in Lethbridge, Alta., on Tuesday while visiting relatives.

Sosa, 52, is also wanted by Guatemalan authorities for allegedly participating in attacks on a village in 1982 in which 251 men, women and children were massacred and faces extradition back to the United States.

"I think Canada has to take a tough stand on this. Enough of this business," said Carmen Aguilera, a Guatemalan lawyer and the country's former honorary consul in Calgary.

More:
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20110120/guatemala-lawyer-says-ottawa-should-review-citizenship-criteria-110120/