Wednesday, December 21, 2005

International Extradition Updates

A number of cases that we have been following have some news-worthy updates that we feel that we should mention.

The first is the case of “suspected mob boss”[1] Ze’ev Rosenstein, whose requested extradition from Israel we covered on the last day of . At that time, we noted that Mr. Rosenstein had lost an appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court and that his extradition had been approved.[2] It is now being reported that Israel’s Justice Minister has “signed an extradition order that will send [Mr.] Rosenstein to the United States.”[3] His extradition may be delayed by several weeks yet, “in order to complete legal proceedings in Israel, including an additional Supreme Court hearing.”[4] Mr. Rosenstein is also expected to appeal against the Justice Minister’s decision.[5]

The second is that of Viktor Kozeny, whose requested extradition from the Bahamas we discussed at the beginning of . When we first mentioned Mr. Kozeny, it was only known at the time that the Foreign Affairs Minister for the Bahamas had given his approval to let extradition proceedings against Mr. Kozeny commence.[6] Since then, bail has been denied for Mr. Kozeny because he is considered a flight risk.[7] Extradition proceedings against Mr. Kozeny are expected to begin on January 30, 2006.[8]

The third is that of Frederick Russell, whose requested extradition from Ireland we discussed at the end of in connection to noting that extradition from Ireland is often very difficult to secure. Mr. Russell, as we noted, is wanted in Washington state to face vehicular-homicide charges.[9] An extradition hearing in Ireland is scheduled to begin on January 26, 2006.[10] In the meantime, Mr. Russell has been remanded in custody until the hearing starts, and his “defence team is awaiting two affidavits from the United States before the case can go ahead.”[11]

The fourth is that of Canadian cause celebre, Marc Emery, whose requested extradition from Canada was one of the first we . Mr. Emery is known as the “prince of pot” and he is wanted in the United States for trafficking in narcotics.[12] His extradition hearing is set to begin on February 13, but in the meantime, he has secured permission to campaign in Canada’s federal elections.[13] Mr. Emery has previously served as the president of the British Columbia Marijuana Party, and he has been asked by Minister of Parliament Svend Robinson to campaign for him on behalf of the New Democratic Party.[14] Canada’s general election will take place on January 23, 2006.[15]

And finally, the extradition case of 22 CIA agents wanted in Italy, which we discussed in mid-, has taken a very interesting turn. The agents are wanted for allegedly kidnapping a popular Imam off a street in Milan, and as we have mentioned , the negotiations between local Milanese prosecutors and Italy’s Minister of Justice have been contentious. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has weighed in on the case yesterday, saying “I don’t think there is any basis to the case.”[16] He also hinted that if there is a basis to the case, that might be okay with him: “You can’t tackle terrorism with a rule book in your hand,” he is reported to have said.[17]


[1] Yuval Yoaz, , Haaretz.com, Dec. 20, 2005.
[2] See Yuval Yoaz, , Haaretz.com, Nov. 30, 2005
[3] Yoaz, supra note 1.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] See , Associated Press, Dec. 3, 2005.
[7] Bahamas Judge Denies Bail for Irish Businessman, Associated Press, Dec. 20, 2005, not available online..
[8] , Czech Happenings, Dec. 21, 2005 (citing “the daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD)”).
[9] Nicholas K. Geranios, , Associated Press (via The Seattle Post-Intelligencer), Oct. 26, 2005.
[10] , Irish Examiner, Dec. 20, 2005.
[11] Id.
[12] Ari Bloomekatz, , Seattle Times, Jul. 30, 2005.
[13] , Canadian Press (via CTV.ca), Dec. 8, 2005.
[14] Id.
[15] , Elections Canada, Dec. 20, 2005.
[16] , Reuters (via Gulf Times), Dec. 21, 2005.
[17] Id.

posted by McNabb Associates, P.C. @ 1:17 PM