Source:
Associated PressPosted 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.
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