Italy’s justice minister, Alfredo Biondi, has signed the formal extradition request for former Nazi SS captain Erich Priebke, who was tracked down in Argentina last month.
A Justice Ministry statement said Biondi will send the request to the Argentine government.
The statement said copious documentation had already been sent to Argentina demonstrating, among other things, that Priebke’s wartime deeds could be described as crimes against humanity.
Priebke was involved in the March 1944 massacre at the Ardeatine Caves, south of Rome.
Representatives of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, whose undercover agent located Priebke living openly in an Argentine resort in the Andes Mountains, met last week with Biondi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
They turned over to the Italians a thick file documenting Priebke’s participation in war crimes, including the 1944 execution of 335 Romans at the Ardeatine Caves.
The Italians began extradition proceedings last month, and had 45 days in which to supply full documentation supporting their case.
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