Govt. to sign extradition treaties with several countries

The Government hopes to sign extradition treaties with nations in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, revealing that it finds the extradition law helpful to punish Sri Lankan criminals who have taken refuge in foreign lands.

State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene, moving the Extraditing Treaties Sri Lanka signed with Russia and the Ukraine published in extraordinary gazette 2022/27 and 2021/47, informed Parliament yesterday that the Government had also entered into agreements with China and Vietnam.

Extradition treaties with China, Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam establish a bilateral legal mechanism governing the transfer of persons subject to prosecution and sentencing. It also improves the efficiency of justice, which will develop cooperation between the countries that have entered into the treaty for the prevention of offences and inflict punishment in respect to such offences and ensure that the parties to the treaty undertake to extradite to each other, upon request and subject to the provisions of the treaty, the persons who are found within the territories of the respective countries for prosecution or execution of sentences. The provisions of each treaty are in conformity with the provisions of Section 4 of Extradition Law No. 8 of 1977.

“An extradition law is helpful to fast-track the penalties for criminals who avoid the law and take refuge in other countries. It helps us to establish rule of law. Two countries coming to an agreement to extradite those who have committed serious crimes will help punish the criminals. We can take action against those who committed crimes in Sri Lanka and have fled to those countries as well as those governments could take action against their respective citizens who have taken refuge here after committing crimes,” explained the State Minister.

Highlighting the contribution the extradition laws make to establishing peace and harmony both locally and globally by preventing crime and also limiting the movement of criminals, the State Minister said: “Extradition laws are required to have a peaceful nation as well as a peaceful world. However, those who are seeking asylum for political reasons do not fall into the category covered by extradition laws. Murder, homicide, rape, bribery, robbery, terrorism, sea piracy, exchange fraud and crimes related to drugs are among the many shown in the Extradition Act No. 8 of 1977. We need to increase the number of countries that have entered into an extradition agreement. It is important to enter into extradition agreements with countries in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The extradition agreement helps to strengthen national security.” (AH)