Reuters Einhorn Cuts Throat As Extradition From France Looms By Marco Trujillo CHAMPAGNE-MOUTON, France (Reuters) -- American ex-hippie guru Ira
Einhorn slit his throat on Thursday in a dramatic protest against a French
court ruling that he should be extradited to the United States to face
trial for murder.
With his country house in western France sealed off by police to
prevent him from trying to flee, the former anti-war activist took a knife
to his neck and then called in a French television crew to attack Prime
Minister Lionel Jospin for the extradition decision.
``Lionel Jospin did this. He is responsible,'' Einhorn, 61, said as he
pointed to a gaping flesh wound in his neck.
His shirt was soaked in blood but he was able to speak clearly and the
wound did not appear life-threatening.
``He is sending me back to America. He knows I will spend the rest of
my life in prison without a trial,'' Einhorn told France 2 television in a
mix of English and accented French.
Einhorn fled the United States in 1981 just before he was scheduled to
go on trial for the 1977 murder of his girlfriend Holly Maddux.
Einhorn, who says he was framed, was convicted of the murder in his
absence in 1993 by a Pennsylvania court and sentenced to life
imprisonment.
France's highest administrative court rejected Einhorn's appeal on
Thursday against an extradition order signed by Jospin after France won
assurances from U.S. authorities that Einhorn would receive a fresh trial
and not face the death penalty.
In Washington, the U.S. Justice Department said it was ''extremely pleased'' with the decision. ``We are
continuing to work closely with the French authorities to take appropriate
action,'' it said in a statement.
``POLITICAL ACT''
A French Justice Ministry source said authorities were waiting to hear
from doctors whether Einhorn was fit to travel despite his self-inflicted
wound. Emergency services had earlier said Einhorn tried to kill himself.
``If he is (able to travel), he will immediately be handed over to the
American authorities,'' the ministry source said.
Einhorn's Swedish wife Anikka said her husband had cut his throat to
try to dissuade the French government from extraditing him until an appeal
he has lodged with the European Court of Human Rights had been heard.
``This was not a desperate act but a political act,'' she told
reporters.
``He has the law on his side but politicians against him.''
France is not obliged to await the outcome of the appeal and the
Justice Ministry source said it would not hold up extradition procedures.
Riot police and gendarmes surrounded the two-story Einhorn house in the
village of Champagne-Mouton, moments after the Paris court ruling and shut
off the country lane leading to the property.
A handwritten note on the wire garden fence asked journalists to stay
away.
Einhorn was found guilty in the 1993 trial of bludgeoning Maddux to
death and hiding her body in a trunk in his Philadelphia apartment, where
it remained for 18 months until police found it.
Einhorn was found in 1997 living in the French countryside. He has
always denied the murder, saying that the killing was pinned on him
because he was an anti-Vietnam War activist.
After years of legal wrangling, Jospin signed an extradition order last
July following assurances that Einhorn would receive a fresh trial and
would not face the death penalty.
France abolished capital punishment in 1981 and refuses to extradite
suspects to countries where they could be executed. Copyright © 2001. Reuters. All rights reserved. saved from url: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010712/ts/france_us_extradition_dc_5.html
July 12, 2001
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