Ecuador seeks return of Florida death row inmate

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Posted on Monday, 04.06.09
Ecuador seeks return of Florida death row inmate

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
AP Hispanic Affairs Writer

MIAMI -- Ecuador's government demanded on Monday the return of a man on Florida's death row for killing four people and said he should have never been taken from the South American country, calling it a "kidnapping."

Ecuadorean officials have decried the treatment of former businessman and dual U.S. and Ecuador citizen Nelson Serrano Saenz, claiming he was beaten and secretly held in a dog kennel. The officials sent a letter to the U.S. State Department last month but said they haven't yet received a response.

"The issue is not his guilt or innocence," said Deputy Ecuadorean Interior Minister Franco Sanchez. "This is called a kidnapping, not an arrest."

Ecuador has no death penalty and will not extradite fugitives who face the punishment in other countries. U.S. authorities maintained Serrano's status as a U.S. citizen allowed them to bring him back.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/986786.html

[BobTheSubgenius]

1. Appalling acts by the FL officials,

but hardly new or precedent-setting, tragically. Any odds on his chances of being repatriated? I'd say his chances were hovering somewhere between 0 and a large negative number.

[Bacchus39]

3. considering he killed 4 people, I'd say his chances are 0

read the rest of the story.

[BrightKnight]

5. ...perhaps after he serves his sentence - n/t

[EFerrari]

2. Our government has not only no moral high ground to stand on,

they're in a shameful, shameful ditch.

[asteroid2003QQ47]

4. Box him up and send him home! eom