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Kopp Gives Up Extradition Appeal

A lawyer representing anti-abortion extremist James Charles Kopp announced Monday that Kopp will no longer appeal his extradition to the US from France. Kopp will now return to the US to stand trial for the1998 murder of obstetrician/gynecologist and abortion provider Dr. Barnett Slepian. According to his lawyer Herve Rouzaud Le-Boeuf, Kopp intends to prove his innocence upon his return, and sees the trial as a chance to “clear my name.” Rouzaud Le-Boeuf told reporters that Kopp says he has “hope that I could be acquitted by a court in the United States.”

Formerly on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List, Kopp, allegedly known to be “Atomic Dog” in the violent underground anti-abortion extremist group Army of God, was a fugitive for over two years before being captured in Dinan, France. In addition to the sniper-style murder of Dr. Slepian, Kopp has been indicted for the 1995 shooting of Ontario abortion provider Dr. Hugh Short and is the primary suspect in three separate shootings of abortion providers in Canada and New York.

Kopp is expected to return to the US in the coming weeks. As a condition of his extradition, he will not face the death penalty.

Sources:

Reuters, 5/27/02; Feminist Majority Foundation

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