Arms dealer in Bofors scandal can’t be extradited: lawyer

ARGENTINA: An Italian businessman wanted in India in the politically explosive Bofors arms scandal cannot be extradited from Argentina, his lawyer said .

“It’s absurd. The affair dates back 20 years and the alleged offenses have already expired under Argentine law in any case,” said Alejandro Freeland, the lawyer for Italian national Ottavio Quattrocchi.

Moreover, two decisions by justice authorities in India have already cleared him, Freeland insisted.

Quattrocchi, who was arrested in Argentina on February 6 under an Interpol warrant, is allegedly linked to payoffs in a 1.3 billion dollar arms deal in the 1980s between the Indian government of then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Swedish arms producer Bofors.

The Italian, who lives in Milan, was released on 10,000 dollars bail on February 23 and ordered not to leave Argentina, according to another of his lawyers, Adolfo Luis Tamini.

India has until March 6 to official present a request for his extradition, said Tamini.

Asked by AFP when such a request would be presented, the Indian embassy in Buenos Aires refused comment.

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh denied wrongdoing earlier Tuesday over delays in seeking Quattrocchi’s extradition.

“I solemnly affirm to the public at large that this government has done nothing wrong,” Singh told reporters in the Indian capital.

Both houses of India’s parliament were adjourned for a second straight day on Tuesday amid opposition uproar over the government’s not having reported the Italian’s arrest when it happened.

The opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party vowed to block parliamentary proceedings “from the word go” if the government does not explain why his detention was not disclosed.

The government said last weekend it would send a Central Bureau of Investigation team to seek extradition, a potentially lengthy process as Argentina and India do not have an extradition treaty.

Quattrocchi has always maintained his innocence of being involved in bribe-taking in the Bofors arms deal, saying his only crime was being a friend of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi — who was assassinated in 1991 — and his Italian-born wife Sonia Gandhi.

Sonia Gandhi is currently president of the ruling Indian National Congress party.

In 2005, the Delhi High Court dismissed similar charges in the case against the three Europe-based Hinduja brothers — of the family-run Hinduja Group multinational — as well as against Rajiv Gandhi.

The scandal has dogged Indian politics since it erupted in 1986.

Buenos Aires, Wednesday, afp