Extradition is the process by which one country surrenders a person to another country to face trial or punishment for crimes committed in the requesting country. The act of extraditing a person has been a geo-political tool that is more beneficial to governments than the individuals being extradited. Over the years, we have seen many renowned people who have been extradited to face their charges or crimes. In this article, we explore some of the most famous extradition cases in recent history.
Pablo Escobar:
Pablo Escobar was one of the most notorious drug lords in history. He had a reign of terror in Colombia and the US, where he was responsible for various drug trafficking activities. He was on the FBI’s most wanted list for many years before he was ultimately killed by Colombian authorities. However, before his death, he was wanted by the US government, which sought his extradition to face trial for drug crimes committed in the US.
The US government requested his extradition from Colombia, but the Colombian government rejected the request, citing concerns about Escobar’s safety and the possibility of him being sentenced to death. The Colombian constitution prohibits extradition of nationals to other countries where they may face the death penalty.
Luis Posada Carriles:
Luis Posada Carriles was a Cuban-American who was involved in many anti-Castro activities, including the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. He later became a CIA operative before being accused of involvement in various terrorist activities. In 1997, he was arrested in Panama and charged with terrorism for his role in the bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people.
The Cuban government requested his extradition from Panama, but the request was denied. Carriles later escaped from jail and fled to the US. In the US, he was arrested for immigration violations but was never charged with terrorism. Cuba has accused the US of shielding him from justice.
Roman Polanski:
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director who fled the US in 1978 after being charged with the rape of a 13-year-old girl. Polanski’s case is one of the most controversial in recent history, with many people arguing that he should not have been extradited.
Polanski, who was living in France, was arrested in Switzerland in 2009 at the request of the US government. He was held in custody for two months, during which time the Swiss authorities considered the extradition request. Polanski’s lawyers argued that the extradition was unlawful and that he had already served his sentence, having fled the US before sentencing in 1978. In 2010, the Swiss authorities denied the US extradition request and released Polanski from custody.
Julian Assange:
Julian Assange is an Australian computer programmer who founded WikiLeaks, an organization that publishes classified information. In 2010, WikiLeaks published thousands of classified US military and diplomatic documents, which led to widespread media coverage and controversy. The US government then charged Assange with various crimes, including theft of government property and espionage.
Assange was living in the UK at the time, and the US requested his extradition. In 2012, Assange sought asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, which was granted. He lived in the embassy for seven years, during which time he was unable to leave the embassy without being arrested. In 2019, the Ecuadorian government withdrew his asylum, and Assange was arrested by the UK authorities. He is currently fighting extradition to the US.
Alexandre Cazes:
Alexandre Cazes was a Canadian who founded AlphaBay, which was one of the largest dark web marketplaces on the internet. AlphaBay was shut down by the US government in 2017, and Cazes was subsequently arrested in Thailand. The US government requested his extradition to face charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, and other related offenses.
Cazes was found dead in his cell in Thailand before the extradition hearing. The Thai authorities claimed he committed suicide, but his family and lawyers disputed this claim. AlphaBay’s shutdown was seen as a significant victory for the US authorities in the fight against online crime.
Conclusion:
Extradition cases are always controversial, with governments having to balance the need for justice with political and diplomatic considerations. The cases discussed in this article are just a few examples of the complex issues that arise in extradition proceedings. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, we can expect to see more cases where individuals are sought by other countries to face justice.
Sometimes, the question of whether or not a convict should be subject to the death penalty can increase the wait for an extradition order to be fulfilled. Such was the case of Charles Ng, a Chinese-American who was eventually convicted of eleven counts of murder.
In the case of Ira Einhorn, meanwhile, a series of legal hoops that needed to be jumped through before France would expatriate the man to the United States. Einhorn, a counterculture icon, was charged with the murder of former girlfriend Holly Maddux and fled to France, being tried and convicted in absentia in a Pennsylvania court. After being apprehended abroad, though, France demanded proof that that a) Einhorn would receive a fair trial, b) he would not receive the death penalty, and c) he would get another trial in the first place (which Pennsylvania had to make a special law to allow) before extradition was possible.
Some especially significant extradition cases have resulted from people of international notoriety. Former president of Peru Alberto Fujimori was only surrendered back to his home country of Peru after being arrested in Chile and extradited from there. Japan, a place of refuge for the self-exiled leader, was adamant in their refusal to expatriate Fujimori, who had dual nationality between Peru and Japan. Fairly recently, though, Fujimori received more than 25 years in prison for human rights abuses, embezzlement
A current and slightly more modern example, award-winning director Roman Polanski still has yet to serve time after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, more than 30 years after the crime. Even today, repeated extradition requests of the United States to Switzerland, where Polanski is now residing, have yet to bring him closer to U.S. courts.
