India court rejects French woman’s extradition challenge

NEW DELHI: India’s top court yesterday rejected a French woman’s challenge against extradition to Chile, where she is wanted over the assassination of a key supporter of General Augusto Pinochet’s military regime.

Chile is seeking the extradition of Marie-Emmanuelle Verhoeven, aged in her mid 50s, for her alleged role in a conspiracy to kill Senator Jaime Guzman Errazuriz on April 1, 1991.

Indian police arrested her on February 16 last year as she entered the country overland from Nepal, and she has been held in New Delhi’s high security Tihar Jail ever since.

Verhoeven, who has told authorities she was visiting India on a Buddhist pilgrimage, had challenged a treaty between India and Chile allowing for extradition.

Lawyers argued that the treaty dating back to the 1800s was not constitutional because it was not ratified after partition of India in 1947.

But the Supreme Court in a written judgement yesterday ruled in favour of the Indian government which argued it was still valid, her lawyer Ramni Taneja said.

“This is a big blow and means the extradition proceedings can continue to go ahead. This has been very devastating for her,” Taneja said. — AFP