According to this United States Department of Justice (US DOJ) manual, extradition from a foreign country involves four basic steps:
- contacting the Office of International Affairs;
- making a preliminary determination of extraditability;
- deciding whether to ask for provisional arrest; and
- submitting the required documents in support of the formal request for extradition.
Israel did not arrest Avrohom Mondrowitz until November 16, 2007 after Aviva Lori's piece was published in the Ha'aretz weekend magazine 12 days ago, even though Mondrowitz is a proven flight risk.
The US DOJ spokesman confirmed yesterday that Israel was asked on September 7, 2007 to extradite Mondrowitz. In other words, more than two months passed before the arrest.
What does this mean?
It could mean several things:
- THe Brooklyn DA did not ask for Mondrowitz to be provisionally arrested.
- The DOJ ignored the Brooklyn DA's request for arrest.
- The State Department ignored the Brooklyn DA's request for arrest.
- Israel ignored the US request for arrest.
What's the most likely scenario? Time and some additional legwork will tell.
[Hat Tip: Dr. R-F.]