Anibal Dos Santos - Second Escape and Extradition

Second Escape and Extradition

According to the Ministry of Interior statement, "On 9 May 2004 Anibal dos Santos Junior disappeared from his cell." Anonymous sources at the prison said that dos Santos was "actually taken out of the jail by accomplices". The escape occurred when the court was preparing to pronounce verdicts against 15 suspects involved in the 1996 bank fraud case.

In the middle of May Canadian authorities detained dos Santos at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. Mozambican authorities immediately requested extradition although Canada and Mozambique did not have an extradition treaty; international press organizations called on the Canadian government to "expedite return of dos Santos" too. Dos Santos applied for political asylum in Canada, stalling the extradition process for half a year. Authorities persuaded dos Santos to drop the request for asylum in exchange for a fair retrial in Mozambique, an option open to anyone sentenced in absentia to more than two years in jail. The Mozambique court confirmed the convict's right to retrial. On December 14, 2004, Canadian authorities approved extradition, and dos Santos finally departed for Mozambique on January 21, 2005, arriving in Maputo the next day. Reporters without borders and other press organizations celebrated the capture.