Judge blocks pop star's extradition

CNN
July 16, 2002

Judge blocks pop star's extradition

                 MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A Mexican judge threw out the government's request
                 to extradite pop singer Gloria Trevi and a choreographer from Brazil,
                 Mexico's federal attorney general's office said Tuesday.

                 The decision will likely delay even further the extradition of Trevi and
                 choreographer Maria Raquenel Portillo, who along with Trevi's manager face
                 charges of abducting and raping teenage girls in their care.

The three fled Mexico to escape prosecution, and have been held in Brazilian jails
for two years.

Trevi's lawyer, Otavio Bezerra Neves, had said in Brazil that the decision could
clear the way for Trevi's eventual release.

                 But the Mexican attorney general's office said Tuesday that officials were revising
                 the extradition request and planned to resubmit it. That would mean the extradition
                 process would have to start again from scratch, officials said.

                 Brazil's Supreme Court decided in December 2000 to extradite Trevi to Mexico, but
                 the her extradition was held up by appeals. Trevi's request for political asylum was
                 rejected in March of last year.