Extradition process for US terror suspect gets Aguirre nod

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said on Sunday that the extradition process for a Filipino doctor accused of plotting terror attacks in the US should already begin.

“It only means that we have to begin the extradition proceedings being requested. We have a process to be followed and this has been done many times in the past,” Aguirre said in text message to INQUIRER.net.

The US government is requesting the Philippine government to hand over Dr. Russel Salic, whom it accuses of funding terror attacks in New York.

Aguirre said Salic was facing preliminary investigation in the Philippines for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of six and the murder of two sawmill workers in April.

According to US authorities, they disrupted a plot by Salic and two ISIS followers to carry out terrorist attacks in New York City, “including concert venues, subway stations and Times Square in the summer of 2016.”

READ: US seeks extradition of PH doctor linked to New York terror plot

Asked what he would do if the extradition was approved while Salic still had a pending case in the Philippines, Aguirre said, “It depends.”

“Depende yan if, and on what grounds he would oppose the extradition,” he said.

The justice secretary said Salic was under the custody of National Bureau of Investigation. /cbb