Meir Abergil in court: Sentence us to death now

Alleged mob brothers remanded for a further 6 days in Jerusalem court; US extradition request received.

By DAN IZENBERG
abergil aberjil brothers 224 ch 1 (photo credit: Channel 1 [file])
abergil aberjil brothers 224 ch 1
(photo credit: Channel 1 [file])
The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Wednesday extended the remand in custody of Yitzhak and Meir Aberjil and three others wanted by US authorities for another six days to give the state prosecution time to file a request to extradite the five suspects. The state's representative, attorney Gilad Semama, had asked the court to extend the remand by 10 days. Meir Aberjil, the alleged financial kingpin of the Aberjil gang headed by his brother, Yitzhak, shouted to the judge, Yitzhak Milanov, "Sentence us to death here and now. I am the chairman of my nerves and my health." When he heard that the state was asking for 10 more days, Aberjil yelled, "Give them 20 days. Ten days is not enough for them." Two days earlier, the US government transferred its request to extradite the Aberjil brothers as well as Sasson Barashi, Moshe Maloul and Yisrael Uzipa. Semama informed the court that the request included evidence linking the suspects to the criminal acts with which they were charged. "From a preliminary look at the request and the additional material, which includes more than 1,500 pages, it appears that there is prima facie reason to file a request with Jerusalem District Court to declare the suspects eligible for extradition," said Semama. He told Milanov it would take the prosecution a minimum of 10 days to prepare the extradition request. The five suspects have already been indicted in the US District Court for the Central District of California. The charges include racketeer-influenced and corrupt organizations conspiracy; conspiracy to commit extortion; collection of extensions of credit by extortionate means; interference with commerce by threats of violence; money-laundering; committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity, and importing drugs. The authorities detained the Aberjil brothers and their accomplices on August 24, after receiving a request to arrest them from US authorities. According to the Law of Extradition, the US had 60 days to submit its formal request for their extradition. In the meantime, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court approved the state's successive requests to remand them in custody for 20 days, the maximum at one time allowed by law. The final request was due to expire Wednesday. The US request arrived on Monday. Meir Aberjil appealed two of the earlier extensions. He told the court he was terrified of going back to prison in the US after having been incarcerated there for four years. He also served one year in prison in Germany for drug violations. The law also grants the court the right to extend the remand for up to 10 more days after the extradition request has been submitted.