Israel files to extradite alleged rapist ex-diplomat Roemer back to Mexico

A petition to extradite former UNESCO ambassador Andrés Roemer Slomianski to Mexico over rape allegations was filed to the Jerusalem District Court by the international department of the State Attorney's Office on Monday.

Roemer was arrested on Monday morning, and the State Attorney's Office is seeking to detain him until a final decision on the extradition petition has been made.

The State Attorney's Office is seeking to detain Roemer until a final decision on the extradition petition has been made.

Mexico requested the extradition of the Mexican-Israeli citizen in 2022. The writer and academic is accussed of the rape of several women in Mexico City.

United Mexican Journalists in 2021 published a report claiming that they had collected 54 testimonies of sexual assault and 7 other stories about his modus operandi.

Roemer has denied all of the allegations against him, writing on Saturday that Yom Kippur was a time of introspection and asking for forgiveness, but not to apologize for deeds one did not commit.

He said on social media that he had not engaged in any of the crimes attributed to him, and that polygraph tests had supported his claims of innocence.

A fall from grace

The former diplomat was in the past honored by Jewish and Israeli institutions over the incident that led to his removal from the post. In 2016, Roemer had walked out of a debate on a UNESCO resolution on the Temple Mount, in contradiction with his government's initial support of the document.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center and the American Sephardic Federation awarded him in 2017 for his contributions to human rights and leadership, respectively.

A road in Ramat Gan was named after him, according to Ynet, but after the allegations came to light the road’s name was changed.

This is a developing story.