RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian police said it would extradite late Thursday a retired Argentine military officer accused in the massacre of 22 political prisoners during Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship.
Norberto Raul Tozzo, 66, was due to leave Rio International Airport on a direct flight for Buenos Aires, a federal police spokesperson told AFP.
Argentine prosecutors accuse Tozzo of playing a role on December 13, 1976 in the "Massacre of Margarita Belen," which involved the torture and execution of 22 political prisoners.
He has been sentenced to life in prison in Argentina. But in exchange for granting the extradition request from Buenos Aires, Brazil asked that Tozzo receive no more than a 30-year sentence and that he get credited for the four years he has already served.
The former military officer has been subject to an international arrest warrant in 2004, when he sought refuge in Brazil and lived there under a fake name.
Brazilian authorities arrested him by chance in 2008 during a fight at a Rio restaurant and because he did not have proper documentation.
The Supreme Court approved his extradition in May.
Human rights activists say some 30,000 Argentines "disappeared" during the military regime's so-called "dirty war" against leftists.
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