Bondi nanny Adriana Rivas loses fight against extradition to Chile
The fate of the Bondi nanny who is fighting extradition over allegations that she tortured seven victims while working as an agent in the secret police force of Chile’s Pinochet regime has been decided.
Adriana Elcira Rivas, 72, has denied allegations that she was involved in the kidnapping, torture and disappearance of seven victims of opposition to the reign of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1976 and 1977.
Ms. Rivas allegedly served as an agent between 1973 and 1977 in Pinochet’s National Intelligence Directorate, a secret police force dedicated to suppressing political dissidents.
Her lawyer, Dr Sean Baron Levi, argued in federal court that Ms Riva’s extradition charge of seven counts of aggravated kidnapping could be “mischaracterised” by Chilean courts as a crime against humanity.
Unlike aggravated kidnapping, there is no 15-year legal limit for crimes against humanity in Chile; the second charge preserves the death penalty.
Australia does not extradite to countries where a crime is punishable by death.
In his ruling on Tuesday, Judge Michael Lee sided with the defendant, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and dismissed the applicant’s claim.
“The applicant’s reliance on parts of the extradition documents to argue that the relevant offense should be characterized as a crime against humanity is misunderstood,” Judge Lee said.
“Read the materials fairly, do not suggest that the crime for which extradition is requested is anything other than the crime specified in the request, namely aggravated kidnapping.
“For these reasons, the issue relied upon by the applicant does not constitute a mandatory assessment.
“The applicant has failed to show that the Minister’s decision was affected by jurisdictional error, so the application must be refused.”
Ms Rivas moved to Australia in 1978.
He was arrested while visiting his family in Chile in 2007, and fled to Australia on bail in 2011.
She was working as a nanny and cleaner in the upscale beachside suburb of Bondi before she was detained awaiting extradition in 2019.
