+4:3 Supreme Court to decide on 9 military indicted for alleged killings

Описание: (9 Aug 2011)
9 August 2011
++16:9++
1. Exterior of courthouse
2. Set-up shot of judge Roberto Carlos Calderon, who initially dealt with the arrest warrant until it was handed over to Supreme Court
3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Roberto Carlos Calderon, Judge:
(Asked about the possibility of the police going inside the barracks and arresting the officers)
"Now that the case is in the hands of the Supreme Court of Justice, I understand that as a precaution they (the police) have to await for the Supreme Court''s decision, because this is the highest-level court we are talking about and it''s their job to resolve this."
4. Various exteriors of military barracks where nine Salvadorean army officers are being held
5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Roberto Carlos Calderon, Judge:
"It would be the responsibility of the police and also of the judge appointed by the Supreme Court. I understand the police are just awaiting the formation of a tribunal. Then we will all have to wait and see what happens."
FILE: 16 November 1989
++4:3++
6. Various of bodies of 6 Jesuits priests and their two Salvadorean housekeepers who were massacred in their residence
FILE: September 1991
++4:3++
7. Some military officers outside courthouse
8. Various of trial against army officers who are now being requested by the Spanish justice
STORYLINE:
El Salvador''s highest court is to decide whether to extradite nine former Salvadoran soldiers and officials to Spain after they were indicted over the 1989 killings of six Jesuit priests and two other people during the Central American country''s civil war.
Judge Roberto Carlos Calderon - who received the initial extradition request from Spanish judge Eloy Velasco - handed the case to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, a day after the country''s Defence Department said the former soldiers and officials had turned themselves in to a military base.
Among those who surrendered were Rafael Humberto Larios, the former defence minister, and Juan Orlando Zepeda, who was vice defence minister.
A tenth suspect in the Spanish case, former army chief of staff, Rene Emilio Ponce, died in May, while 10 other suspects have not been found.
The nine suspects have not been formally arrested and Calderon told reporters the police would wait for the court''s decision before entering the barracks to arrest them.
Salvadoran officials have said it is unlikely that El Salvador''s supreme court will vote to extradite the men to Spain.
Spanish courts have used international jurisdiction doctrines to prosecute the killings of the priests, five of whom were Spaniards.
They were killed in November 1989 at the Jesuit-run University of Central America in San Salvador after the army suspected them of sympathising with left-wing rebels.
A Salvadoran mother and daughter who worked as their housekeepers were also killed.
The case, which caused uproar worldwide, was closed in 1991 after the conviction of at least two officers who later benefited from an amnesty.

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