December 19 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – After a French court sentenced him to a second life sentence, Ilich Ramirez, or the “Jackal” as the mainstream press calls him, has requested to be extradited to Venezuela.
Ramirez, a Venezuelan born pro- Palestinian fighter, was on trial this time for orchestrating four bombings in France in 1982 and 1983 which killed 11 people and injured more than 100. The trail began on 7 November. Ramirez is already serving a life sentence in France for the murder of two French police officers and a Lebanese informant in 1975. Ramirez was kidnapped in Sudan in 1994, flown to France and found guilty at the trial, which was held in December 1997. He has denied the killings, accusing the Israeli secret service of being behind them.
The French “terrorism” court, made up of seven magistrates, ruled last week that Ramirez should complete a further 18 years in prison (of the thirty year sentence), on top of the current sentence he is serving, which would have seen him on parole in 2012.
“There’s an agreement between [Venezuelan] president [Hugo] Chavez and [former French president] Jacque Chirac from January 1999, confirmed by [French] president [Nicolas] Sarkozy, that when the trial was over, I would return to Venezuela... the only person who can stop this is the French head of state,” Ramirez told Venezuela’s Radio Mundial yesterday via telephone.
However this agreement between Venezuela and France is unconfirmed. Also, the Venezuelan Communist Party marched in Caracas last month, demanding Ramirez be repatriated.
“I’m innocent, but I’ve been found guilty without proof or witness,” he said.
