Extradition on table as PM visits Vietnam

PRIME Minister Hun Sen arrived in Vietnam yesterday for a two-day visit to sign conventions on extradition, bilateral legal support in criminal cases and cooperation on matters of culture, religion and ethnic minorities.

Prior to departure, Sry Thamrong, a minister among the delegation, told journalists the premier will meet with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc as well as other leading Vietnamese political figures.

Justice Ministry spokesman Chin Malin said yesterday that, once signed, the extradition convention would allow both countries to file requests that their citizens be tried in their home country when arrested abroad.

He added that the conven- tion would have no bearing on the case of Nguyen Tangdung, a Vietnamese national arrested this month in Ho Chi Minh City, having fled there from Mondulkiri, where he allegedly spent four days filming himself torturing a 2-year-old boy.

“Vietnamese courts are proceeding with the case and we can provide evidence based on their law,” Malin said. “They will not extradite their criminals to be punished in another country.”

However, James McCabe – director of the NGO Child Protection Unit, which assisted both countries’ police in apprehending Tangdung – said yesterday that an extradition request had been filed by National Police chief Neth Savoeun earlier this month; although police declined to comment on the case.