VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A Canadian man ordered back to the United States to face trial on charges that he killed an American Indian Movement activist nearly 30 years ago will remain free on bail until at least June.

John Graham has been out on bail since shortly after he was ordered out of Canada last March. He was detained briefly at that time but has been on bail since extradition proceedings began more than two years ago.

Graham is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Nova Scotia native Anna Mae Pictou Aquash on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in late 1975. Her body was found on Feb. 24, 1976. She had been shot in the head.

Graham has pleaded not guilty and plans to appeal the extradition order. He returns to court June 23.

Graham’s lawyer, Terry La Liberte, said Monday the grounds for an appeal could include a constitutional challenge of sections of Canada’s Extradition Act. Two similar cases have been heard in the Supreme Court of Canada, which could set a precedent for his client’s case, he said.

Any appeal is contingent on those cases in which the justices have reserved judgment, La Liberte said.

La Liberte also has appealed directly to Canada’s minister of justice, who must sign any final removal order in the case.

“We haven’t heard back,” he said. “It’s very stressful. It’s something hanging over (Graham’s) head.”

Justice Elizabeth Bennett ordered Graham’s extradition after hearings earlier this year.

“There is sufficient evidence … to commit John Graham for extradition to the United States to face the charge in the murder of Anna-Mae Aquash,” she said.

Graham has maintained he is the victim of a witch hunt.

“There’s not enough there to warrant a trial, let alone an extradition,” he said at the time of the order.

Aquash’s death came amid a series of bloody clashes in the mid-1970s between federal agents and AIM. Aquash, a member of Mi’kmaq Tribe of Canada, was among Indian militants who occupied Wounded Knee, S.D., for 71 days in 1973.

Prosecutors have said AIM leaders ordered Aquash’s killing because they suspected she was a government informant. AIM leaders have denied that assertion.

Another man, Arlo Looking Cloud, was convicted a year ago in the slaying. He admitted he helped drive Aquash from Denver to Rapid City, S.D., and eventually to the place where he and others said Graham shot her. He was convicted of first-degree murder committed in the perpetration of a kidnapping.

Looking Cloud’s lawyers had asked for a new trial, saying the jury based its decision on prejudicial, irrelevant testimony and hearsay.

A three-member federal appeals court upheld Looking Cloud’s conviction in August and denied his request for a rehearing last month.

La Liberte said Looking Cloud is getting another new lawyer and that another application may be made for an appeal.