Extradition from Switzerland Update Continued

We have been following two very interesting extradition-related stories this week. One is the deportation hearing for Luis Posada Carriles, which we have discussed here, here, and here. The other is the extradition hearing for Yevgeny Adamov, which we first mentioned a couple of weeks ago, and more recently here.

Mr. Adamov accepted a simplified extradition to Russia last week, but the Swiss judge ruling on the dueling extradition requests wanted to see if the United States would accept Mr. Adamov being sent to Russia to be prosecuted there. It now seems that the US will not accept a simplified extradition to Russia.^[1]

As we mentioned the other day, the factors that the Swiss judge will have to consider in determining to which country Mr. Adamov is to be sent are the relative seriousness and place of commission of the offenses, when the judge received the extradition requests, the nationality of the person, and the possibility of subsequent extradition to another state.

It initially seemed that the only factor working in Russia’s favor is Mr. Adamov’s nationality. The alleged crimes in question were committed in the US, and it seemed that the US requested Mr. Adamov’s extradition before Russia did.

However, that is not entirely accurate. It is clear that Switzerland arrested Mr. Adamov at the request of the United States on May 3, but he refused “quick extradition” which forced the US to make a formal extradition request within forty days.^[2] A formal extradition request, however, was not sent to the Swiss judge until June 24,^[3] over a month after Russia submitted their formal request on May 17.^[4] This situation has no clear outcome. According to the Swiss Federal Office of Justice,

there are no clear rules in the extradition treaties regarding priority. The requested State takes into account the seriousness of the offences, the place of commission of the offences, the dates of the extradition requests and the possibility of a subsequent re-extradition. The offender’s native country is last if it does not extradite its own nationals.^[5]

It will be very interesting to see what the outcome of these extradition requests will be.

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[1] See U.S. Department of Justice Will Not Cancel Extradition Request for Former Russian Nuclear Power Minister, RIA Novosti, Aug. 30, 2005, available here; U.S. Justice Calls for Adamov, Kommersant.com, Aug. 31, 2005, available here.
[2] Balz Bruppacher, Ex-Russian Nuclear Energy Minister Arrested in Switzerland, Accused of Defrauding Safety Funds, Associated Press, May 4, 2005, not readily available online.
[3] See US Asks Swiss to Extradite Russian Ex-minister, Agence France Presse, Jun. 24, 2005, not readily available online.
[4] Russia Asks Swiss to Extradite Ex-minister, Agence France Presse, May 19, 2005, not readily available online.
[5] Office Fédéral de la Justice, Extradition Fact Sheet 8, April 2004, available here (PDF).