Extradition completed: Moshe Ben-Ivgi lands in Israel
Convicted murderer who fled to Argentina in 2004 lands in Israel Wednesday after extradition process. Family of Derek Roth, Ben-Ivgi's victim, says media 'making lowlife murderer into cultural hero'
Moshe Ben-Ivgi, who, along with Arbel Aloni, murdered taxi driver Derek Roth in 1994 and fled to Argentina 2004, has landed in Israel to be tried for his crimes after being extradited.
Though he did not serve his time for murder, Ben-Ivgi is only to be tried for robbery, as per Argentina's extradition laws. He is being escorted by the IDF's Nachson Unit to the Nitzan prison.
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The arrival of Moshe Ben-Ivgi in Israel after being extradited from Argentina is stirring difficult responses from Roth's family. "Making a lowlife murderer into a cultural hero is not at all understood or wanted in a healthy society that has values," said the family's proxy, attorney Nissan Sharifi.
Sharifi added: "This Ben-Ivgi festival is wrong, morally unjust and unworthy. The son of the victim won't cooperate with this festival, and there is no use in them debating the murderer's words appearing in the media now."
Ben-Ivgi and his friend Arbel Aloni were 14 when they murdered Roth in Herzliya. In 1996 they were sentenced to 16 years in prison. In 1998, while on furlough, the two committed an armed robbery and were sentenced to an additional five years.
Ben-Ivgi fled Israel while on furlough from prison in 2004. At the age of 15, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison for Roth's brutal murder but that original sentence was extended by five years after Ben-Ivgi and Aloni robbed two convenience stores during one of their furloughs.
According to Shin Bet, Ben-Ivgi's accomplice Aloni is meant to be released from prison in 2015, but it is unclear if he will face further prison time after suspicions arose on March 2012 that he was involved in fraud during his work outside the prison.
Unlike Aloni, who served his time after the murder, Ben-Ivgi fled, during a 2004 furlough, to Argentina, where he was arrested several months later. Israel asked that Argentina extradite him for Roth's murder, the robbery, and fleeing the country.
In 2007, a district court in Argentina ruled that Ben-Ivgi could be extradited for the robbery only, since Argentine law stipulates that suspects cannot be extradited for fleeing their home country and because the age at which an individual can be held responsible for a crime is 16.
Meir Turgeman is a Yedioth Ahronoth reporter
Noam (Dabul) Dvir, Itay Blumenthal, Raanan Ben-Zur, Aviel Magnezi contributed to this report
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