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Rivas fails to stop Chile extradition

Margaret ScheikowskiAAP
Adriana Rivas has lost her bid in the Federal Court to stop her extradition to Chile.
Camera IconAdriana Rivas has lost her bid in the Federal Court to stop her extradition to Chile. Credit: AAP

A Sydney woman accused of being involved in kidnapping seven people during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet has again failed to stop her extradition to Chile.

Adriana Rivas, who immigrated to Australia in the late 1970s and worked as a nanny, has been in custody since her arrest by NSW police in February 2019 following a request from Chile for her extradition.

She's accused of being a former operative for Chile's police and being involved in the disappearance of seven people, including a woman who was five months' pregnant, in the 1970s.

The Chilean government alleges she was part of a Direccion de Inteligencia Nacional brigade that physically and psychologically tortured members of the communist party who opposed Pinochet's regime.

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In October, a Sydney magistrate dismissed her legal team's objections and ruled the then 67-year-old was eligible for extradition.

Magistrate Philip Stewart rejected grounds including that the allegations related to a "political" offence and that the people were not kidnapped but arrested

Her lawyers challenged the magistrate's decision in the Federal Court, but Justice Wendy Abraham on Thursday dismissed her application for a review.

She confirmed that Rivas was eligible for surrender in relation to the seven counts of aggravated kidnapping and ordered her to pay the legal costs of the Republic of Chile.

She rejected all 24 grounds of a proposed review, including that the magistrate erred in his conclusions relating to a claimed general amnesty and a 15-year limitation statute for prosecutions.

Other grounds included he erred in not calling for further documents proving Rivas was a DINA agent, and on duty at the times of the alleged arrest and continued detention of the seven people.

"Although not a ground of review, underlying the applicant's submissions is an assertion that the magistrate 'engaged in a rubber stamping exercise and nothing more'," Justice Abraham said.

"There is no substance to that submission.

"It is not borne out by a proper reading of the magistrate's reasons for the order made.

"Rather, the submission appears to be based on no more than the fact that the magistrate did not accept the applicant's submissions.

"Indeed, the magistrate's reasons reflect a detailed consideration of the relevant issues."

She noted the extradition process in Australia involves no consideration or determination of whether the person whose extradition is sought by a foreign country is guilty or innocent of the extradition offence.

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