Italy's justice minister has signed an extradition order for a priest sought by Buenos Aires for colluding with the country's bloody 1976-1983 military dictatorship, a lawyer for Argentina said Thursday.
Arturo Salerni confirmed to AFP that the order to extradite Franco Reverberi, 85, was signed Wednesday by Justice Minister Carlo Nordio.
Reverberi, a military chaplain in the western province of Mendoza in 1980, has been sought by the Argentine justice system since 2012, after he fled Argentina for Italy, taking up residence near Parma.
Interpol had also issued a warrant for his arrest.
Reverberi is charged with collusion for allegedly being part of a group which "illegally kidnapped political opponents, taking them to a secret place where they were tortured and one of them died," said Salerni.
He is accused of "aiding and abetting a murder in San Rafael, Argentina, of a 22-year-old boy called Jose Beron... and of conspiring with the military in San Rafael - he was a military chaplain - in a series of tortures," he said.
An estimated 30,000 people disappeared during the military dictatorship, whose "Dirty War" against opponents unleashed a wave of kidnappings, torture, rapes and murder.
More than 1,000 people have now been convicted of crimes against humanity in Argentina related to the dictatorship since trials resumed in the mid-2000, following more than a decade of amnesty laws and other controversial measures.
