Brazil's history of being a safe haven for terrorists, war criminals, international criminals, etc., goes way back – they can't deny it, try as they might. History proves otherwise, there was Josef Mengele, “Ronnie” Biggs of the Great Train Robbery fame, and several others.
More recently the case of Cesare Battisti, the convicted Italian terrorist and murderer who escasped to Brazil using false ID, travel documents and passport. Despite all of Italy's attempts the then Minister of Justice, Tarso Genro and President Lula welcomed him with open arms; giving him not only refuge and refusing Italy's demands for extradition, but a Permanent Visa and work permit. Hail Cesare!!!
Now it's former Turks and Caicos Premier Michael Misick, subject to a world-wide arrest warrant issued by INTERPOL and wanted by the British Government for corruption and fraud charges that led to the British taking back control of the islands. Misick was arrested at Rio's Santos Dumont airport in February and ordered held by Ministro Ricardo Lewandowski of the STF and then subsequently released by the very same Lewandowski.
Provided that they aren't stupid enough to try to leave Brazil for some other country that takes international law seriously, these two will remain free as birds and live a life of ease here in Brazil.
Brazil has a horrible track record when it comes to living up to its responsibilites under international treaties. Let's hope that the Brits have better luck at getting him back in custody than the Italians did with Battisti. Shameful indeed to see how the Brazilian government shows special treatment to those who have lots of money, regardless of the fact that they are hunted criminals and murderers.
Yes, this is the very same Brazil that demands other countries live up to international treaties, respect Brazilian 'so-called' rights - the very same Brazil that fought tooth and nail to keep young Sean Goldman, an American boy whose mother (in violation of Court Ordered Custody) brought him to Brazil without his custodial father's consent kept him here and subsequently when she died Brazil ignored Brazilian law which clearly states that non-biological parents have no legal rights whatever, gave custody to his step-father. The legal battles went all the way to the Supreme Court before finally Brazil honored its commitments under international treaties and returned the boy to his biological father.
Yet, try to take up residency in Brazil through the proper channels, doing so legally. Ha! Good luck my friend, you end up battling the bureaucracy for years before that ever happens. It's just damn frustrating to go through the endless battles only to see some of the worlds worst get the red carpet rolled out for them by an equally corrupt Brazilian government. Disgusting!!!
Brazil - Safe haven for criminals, but try coming here legally!
For one brief moment it looked like Brazil was a little bit closer to deporting convicted terrorist Césare Battisti who arrived here illegally, with forged documents and was given refuge as the very final official act of ex-president Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva.
A Federal Judge in Brasília, Adverci Rates Mendes de Abreu, determined that Battisti should be deported because the law clearly states that convicted felons are not entitled to enter Brazil and thus ordered his arrest and deportation. (It is worth noting that deportation just means expulsion from Brazil to some other country, it is not extradition where he would have been returned to Italy to serve out his life sentence)
That small light at the end of the tunnel was snuffed out only 7 hours later when when Federal Desembargador, Cândido Ribeiro, granted a habeas corpus. This whole issue is a slap in the face to the average Brazilian citizen, fully 97 percent of whom want Battisti extradited. It is also a slap in the face to all expats who seek to achieve permanency in Brazil through the proper legal channels and are confronted with the absurdly bureaucratic policies this government has established to make it nearly impossible to achieve that goal.
Cheers,
James Expat-blog Experts Team
And now his even writing a book about the hard time he had in Europe .I don`t doubt it's going to be a bestseller .
Most people are so easy to manipulate and for being such a distant country even the bad things he done seem to be washed .
Well we can add one more convicted terrorist to the long list of those who have found safe haven in Brazil.
http://epoca.globo.com/tempo/noticia/20 … razil.html
Adlène Hicheur, 39 years old, an Algerian physicist naturalized as a French citizen and who was convicted of planning terrorist attacks in France in 2009 has been living comfortably in Rio de Janeiro since 2013. Acutally, living comfortably seems to be an understatement given the fact that the Brazilian government gave him a R$56 thousand research grant and he has since secured employment as a professor at the Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ, with a monthly salary of R$11 thousand per month.
Only now is Hicheur being investigated by the Federal Police. It really amazes me to think that in a country where violent crime is so prevalent this government insists on importing convicted terrorists... Don't we already have enough problems here??? I wonder if he got a big warm hug and kiss on both cheeks from the President of the Republic when he disembarked on Brazilian soil, a la mode Césare Battisti???
If this government made it as easy for true refugees to enter and remain in Brazil as they have for illegal, convicted terrorists to do so, maybe they could brag that they've really done something good.
Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team
"keep your friends close and your enemy's closer"
comes to mind,, but don't worry,
Brazil as a country is in trouble, and when your in trouble, you need help,,, my god, is this "help" going to cost her,
Adlène Hicheur, the 39 years old Algerian/French dual citizen convicted of planning terrorist attacks in France has told the Federal Police that he will leave Brazil, but didn't tell them exactly where he'll be going.
Wow, ain't that just great!!! He's just going to walk away and start up anew somewhere else. Instead of being investigated for possible terrorist activities, recruiting or arranging financial support for terrorist groups while here in Brazil, he'll just leave. I can guarantee you, however, he's not going to bankrolled by the government of whatever country he ends up in though.
There's really not a Hell of a lot that the Federal Police can do about it either, since Brazil currently has no anti-terrorism laws, and thus in the strictest terms Hicheur hasn't committed any crimes he's a free bird.
One must really question the logic of any country that would send their athletes to the 2016 Olympics in a country that has ZERO anti-terrorism laws. You've also got to wonder exactly what he's been up to while being funded by the Brazilian government. I guess we'll find out some of that during the Olympics... we'll find it out the hard way, I'm afraid. What's that old saying about locking the barn door after the horse has bolted???
Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team
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