Last update - 00:00 26/03/2007
Convicted murderer of Derek Roth released from prison in Argentina
By Michal Greenberg and Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent
Moshe Ben-Ivgi, who was convicted of murdering taxi driver Derek Roth in 1994, was released from a prison in Argentina over the weekend, his Argentine attorney said Monday.
On Friday, Ben-Ivgi was handed a suspended sentence of three years and two months by an Argentine district court for entering the country illegally with forged documents.
Ben-Ivgi's attorney said that his client told him that "the only thing that I want to do now is sit in a coffee shop, drink coffee and look at the people passing by, without remembering prison or fearing that that they will take me away."
Argentina's Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected for the second time Israel's request to extradite the convicted murderer, who fled Israel on a forged passport while on furlough from prison.
Ben-Ivgi was 14 when he and his friend Arbel Aloni killed taxi driver Derek Roth. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Ben-Ivgi was sentenced to an additional five years in prison for robbing a grocery store while on furlough.
Two and a half years ago, on another furlough from prison, Ben-Ivgi managed to flee to Argentina with a forged passport. He was arrested in Buenos Aires six months later, and Israel requested his extradition, although there is no extradition treaty between the two states.
The court subsequently decided that he could be extradited to Israel on condition that he only serve a maximum of five years, which was the sentence he received for robbing the grocery store - when he was already an adult.
Under Israeli law, Ben-Ivgi would have had to face another trial for fleeing. But under Argentine law, a minor aged 14 cannot be held criminally responsible for his acts.
At the end of 2006, Argentina's Supreme Court rejected the extradition due to a legal technicality, and Israel was given a 30-day period in which to resubmit the request - but the second extradition request too was not submitted on time.
When the extradition was finally submitted several weeks ago, Argentina again rejected it because of the delay.
Ben-Ivgi's attorney told Haaretz that according to senior sources in the district court, the judges had decided not to reconsider the case. The lawyer also said that the case could not be reviewed by Argentina's Supreme Court again.
Ben-Ivgi has already served 30 months in an Argentine prison.