Mexico City, Mexico — Andrés Roemer, former diplomat of the Mexican Foreign Service, was detained by Israeli authorities Monday. During his press conference, President Andres Manuel López Obrador confirmed the arrest.
He said that Roemer will be extradited to Mexico, although there is no extradition agreement between Mexico and Israel.
“This person was arrested in Israel and is going to be extradited,” he said explaining that “this man is accused of alleged acts of sexual harassment and other crimes. So, today we were informed that in this case extradition has already been granted or will be granted.”
Roemer had been a fugitive in Israel since the Attorney General’s Office (FGJ) of Mexico City issued an arrest warrant in March 2021 on charges of rape. Interpol issued a Red Card against him in May of the same year after more than 60 women reported having been abused by him.
Roemer, 57, was Mexico’s consul in San Francisco, California. He also carried out philanthropy work and served as a goodwill ambassador to UNESCO, an organization that broke off relations with him after the cases of alleged sexual rape became public.
With the extradition of Roemer at hand, the President took the opportunity to call on the Government of Israel to also capture and hand over Tomás Zerón who directed the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC) of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) during the investigation of the Ayotzinapa case in 2014.
“We hope that the Israeli authorities will help in the case of the extradition of Mr. Zerón who is involved in the unfortunate fact of the disappearance of the young people from Ayotzinapa. Fundamentally in the creation of the so-called Historical Truth,” said López Obrador.
