SPAIN EXTRADITED SALVADORIAN COLONEL AWAITS TRIAL Current status Inocente Orlando Montano Morales From 1980 to 1992, El Salvador was divided by an internal armed conflict between the rebel Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) and the government, led by the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). In this context, on 16 November 1989, six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her 16-year-old daughter were killed at the Pastoral Center of José Simeón Cañas Central American University in San Salvador. Context Ongoing proceedings for serious crimes under international law committed in El Salvador during the 1980–1992 internal armed conflict Suspect Officer in the military, vice-minister of public security (from 1 June 1989 to 2 March 1992) in El Salvador Country of residence of suspect United States of America Charges Crimes against humanity, murder and terrorism Developments in 2018 On 12 July 2018, the Criminal Chamber of the Spanish National Court (Audiencia Nacional, Sala de lo Penal) partially upheld the appeal filed by the accused, eliminating from the indictment the alleged crime against humanity that the investigating judge had excluded from the procedure in 2014. The indictment only referred to the eight murders committed with a terrorist intent. Inocente Orlando Montano is currently detained in pre-trial detention before his trial. Extradited and detained in Spain Facts Following the ratification of the Chapultepec Peace Accords on 16 January 1992, a Truth Commission was established to investigate crimes committed during the war, including the murder of the six Jesuits, their housekeeper, and her daughter. The Truth Commission concluded that these crimes were ordered by Salvadoran officials and executed by the Salvadoran armed forces. Procedure On 23 August 2011, US authorities arrested Inocente Orlando Montano on charges of federal immigration fraud. He was indicted on 10 February 2012 for false declarations to the US authorities regarding the date of his entry into the territory and his military training in El Salvador. On September 2012, he pled guilty, acknowledging he had given false statements. His trial took place in August 2013 and he was sentenced to 21 months in prison on 27 August 2013. On 23 July 2014, the Criminal Chamber of the Spanish National Court (Audiencia Nacional, Sala de lo Penal) submitted a supplemental brief to the US authorities in support of a pending request for extradition issued on 4 November 2011. 60 In this request, Spain urged the US authorities to allow the extradition of Inocente Orlando Montano from the USA to Spain to face trial for the murder of the six Jesuits, their housekeeper, and her daughter, committed in El Salvador on 16 November 1989. On 5 January 2016, a judge from the Eastern District Court of North Carolina granted the request to extradite Inocente Orlando Montano to Spain. On 1 April 2016, Inocente Orlando Montano’s lawyers filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus to reverse the extradition order. On 21 August 2017, the US Eastern District Court of North Carolina dismissed Inocente Orlando Montano’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, finding no irregularity in the extradition proceedings and no basis upon which the petitioner’s request for release could be granted. On 15 November 2017, the Supreme Court dismissed Inocente Orlando Montano’s last request to halt his extradition to Spain. On 29 November 2017, Inocente Orlando Montano was extradited to Spain and placed in police custody. He is accused of actively participating in planning the murder of the six Jesuits. The case has also been reopened in El Salvador. Read more about the case