10/26/2006

US court postpones extradition hearing of Poland murder suspect

A US federal court in Chicago on Wednesday postponed until November 15 the extradition hearing of a Polish- American businessman wanted in Poland on allegations of contracting the 1998 assassination of the country's former national police commander. Edward Mazur, 60, is to remain under arrest without bond pending the mid-November court hearing, Poland's TVN24 news channel reported Wednesday.

He was taken into custody by FBI agents on Friday in the Chicago suburb of Glenview, Illinois, on a Polish warrant.

Poland is seeking Mazur's extradition on charges he contracted the killing of Poland's former national police commander General Marek Papala, who was gunned down in a parking lot next to his Warsaw home on June 25, 1998. No one has been convicted of the crime.

Poland's Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said he is counting on the US to hand Mazur over for prosecution in Poland, but commentators have warned that the suspect's life could be at risk should he be extradited.

Polish investigators had "hard evidence that Edward Mazur was involved in the murder of the former national police commander of Poland," Ziobro told reporters on Friday in Warsaw.

Police also investigated rumours Papala's assassination was linked to Polish narcotics smuggling gangs, shady dealings and kickbacks for politicians but no findings were made public. There has been speculation that Papala knew about the murky deals and was therefore silenced.

Minister Ziobro has said solving the case and bringing to justice those responsible for the high-profile assassination was "matter of honour" for Poland's justice authorities.
Source:rawstory.com



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