Kidnapper of Washington Olivetto extradited to Chile

Chilean Mauricio Hernández Norambuena was extradited today (Aug 20) to his country after 16 years detained in Brazil for taking part in the 2001 abduction of adman Washington Olivetto. The information was confirmed by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Twitter.

“It is our policy to cooperate with other countries and not to shelter criminals or terrorists. Today, after overcoming bureaucratic issues between Brazil and Chile, we are extraditing Norambuena, the kidnapper of adman Washington Olivetto in 2001,” he wrote.

The extradition was made possible after the Chilean government formally pledged not to subject Norambuena to life in jail, complyinhg with the 2004 ruling of the Supreme Court.

At the time, the court authorized his extradition with a few remarks to be observed by the government in the neighboring country, among them Chile’s commitment to replace both jail sentences of life in prison to which Norambuena was convicted in his country with 30 years of detention. This is because the Brazilian Constitution does not allow life in prison over kidnapping.

In Chile, Norambuena was convicted of criminal organization and having taking part in the assassination of Senator Jaime Guzmán in April 1991, as well as the abduction of Cristián Del Rio, son of the owner of newspaper El Mercurio in September 1991.

In Brazil, Norambuena was sentenced by a São Paulo court to 30 years in prison over his involvement in the kidnapping of adman Washington Olivetto, who was kept in captivity for 53 days.

*Alex Rodrigues contributed to this article.