Ex-IDF officer said to have trained gunmen set to return

[Judi Lynn]

Ex-IDF officer said to have trained gunmen set to return
By BEN HARTMAN
11/09/2010 05:21


Former Lt.-Col. Yair Gal Klein is set to be released from a Russian prison after Colombian attempts to extradite him failed, lawyer tells the 'Post.'

A former IDF lieutenant-colonel held in Russia for nearly three years on charges of training paramilitary gunmen in Colombia will be released to Israel in the coming weeks, The Jerusalem Post learned on Monday.

Yair Gal Klein, 67, was convicted in absentia by a Colombian court in 2001 for training right-wing paramilitary groups and drug cartel gunmen in the 1980s and 1990s, through his firm Spearhead Ltd. The former IDF special forces commander was later arrested in Moscow in April 2007 after Interpol issued an arrest warrant for him and two alleged accomplices.

Russian authorities had originally requested the right to appeal the ECHR’s ruling against Klein’s extradition, but lost the appeal.

More:
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=194550

[Judi Lynn]

1. Earlier story on this slug:

Israeli wanted in Colombia on terror-related charges detained at Moscow airport
The Associated Press
Published: August 28, 2007

MOSCOW: A former Israeli army officer wanted in Colombia on terror-related charges has been detained at a Moscow airport, Russian media reported Tuesday.

The Israeli is suspected of involvement in training militants for drug cartels in Colombia in the late 1980s, according to the Interfax and RIA-Novosti news agencies and Channel One television, which cited unidentified law enforcement officials.

The Moscow air and water transport police confirmed that an Israeli was recently detained at the capital's Domodedovo airport, but declined to provide details.

Interfax and Channel One said the man's last name was Klein but gave different first names.

~snip~
Yair Klein and the other two Israelis are accused of helping set up training camps to teach private armies working for Colombian drug lords Pablo Escobar and Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha about explosives, car bombs and high-profile killings. The armies later morphed into Colombia's right-wing death squads.

http://s13.invisionfree.com/julyseventh/ar/t2224.htm

[Judi Lynn]

2. Israeli mercenary to go free: Lawyer .

Israeli mercenary to go free: Lawyer .
Tuesday, 09 November 2010 08:15 Adriaan Alsema .

Russia will this week release former Israeli special forces commander Yair Klein, who is convicted in Colombia for training the Medellin cartel and paramilitary groups, his lawyer told Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post. Klein will be deported to Israel.

Russia decided to deny Colombia's extradition request for the 67-year old Klein after the European Court on Human Rights agreed with Klein's defense that the mercenary had not received a fair trial and that if he were returned to Colombia to serve his 10-year prison sentence, he would be subjected to torture and inhumane conditions and his life would be in grave danger.

As part of their defense, Klein's lawyers quoted Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, who said earlier this year that "hopefully they’ll hand Klein over to us so he can rot in jail for all the damage he’s caused Colombia."

The Israeli spent three years in a Russian jail after international police organization Interpol issued an international arrest warrant against him. The mercenary was convicted in absentia for training hitmen from Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel and later paramilitary organization AUC. The Medellin cartel and the AUC are held responsible for many thousands of murders and forces disappearances in Colombia.

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/12812-israeli-mercenary-to-be-free-man.html