Extradition is not beyond the realms of possibility

Since the UK's Extradition Act and the new UK-US Extradition Treaty came into force in 2003, the British authorities have been enthusiastically extraditing British business executives to face tax fraud charges in the US, including some who had never even been to the US but were accused of evading US tax on behalf of their employers while working in the UK.

Key criteria for extradition are that the offence should also be an offence in the UK and be punishable in the UK by at least 12 months in prison. The tax case seems a pretty good fit with these criteria. Providing Pojaman (and possibly her brother and secretary) immunity from extradition by granting political asylum would generate public outrage from the many supporters of those British nationals that have recently been extradited from the UK to face white-collar crime charges abroad.

Another important criterion for extradition from the UK is that the requesting jurisdiction has to guarantee that the accused will only be tried for the charge specified in the extradition request. Without political asylum, life could be made very difficult for the Shinawatras if the Thai authorities chose to drop all other charges against Pojaman and request her extradition solely based on her tax fraud conviction. That would remove the potential objection that the other charges were either not offences in the UK or were politically motivated, which would probably otherwise prove a barrier to extradition.

In any event, the Shinawatras may be quite restricted in their movements. If the Thai government cancels their diplomatic and ordinary passports, they will have difficulty staying in the UK as stateless persons without political asylum, unless they acquire or have already acquired passports from a country like Belize. (Pin Chakkapak, whom the Thai government also attempted to extradite from the UK, was fortunate in this respect in being a dual Thai-US citizen. So the cancellation of his Thai passport had little effect on him.)

If they are granted political asylum and have valid passports, they will not safely be able to travel to any other country that has an extradition treaty with Thailand or countries that, even in the absence of a treaty, might be expected to entertain an extradition request on the basis of reciprocity.

George Morgan

Bangkok

Two-faced Thaksin shames the nation yet again

Congratulations to Thaksin Shinawatra for once again, single-handedly, making the Thai nation a laughing stock worldwide. There is a deeply rooted belief both in Thailand and abroad that wealth and power provide immunity from justice and the rule of law. This has been magnified greatly with Thaksin simply flying off into the sunset to live comfortably in exile.

To now hear Thaksin whining about his perceived persecution is particularly sickening given his track record on human rights and constant litigation against opponents. Thaksin is clearly incapable of admitting wrongdoing; he is a pathological liar and a master of blame shifting. Money alone has bought him unjustified significance.

The very fabric of a society is woven around the rule and application of law. Thailand will never drag itself out of its current problems while the rich and corrupt commit crimes that go unpunished. Corruption is like a cancer that slowly destroys a society. Thais must ask themselves if their country has a terminal case or not. It is a case of either taking drastic remedial measures or dying. One thing is for sure: the Shinawatras obviously don't care.

Andrew Lynn

Mentone, Australia

Resurgent Russia, the new great hypocrite

Even those of us who lived through the good old days of communism are flabbergasted at Russia's blatant aggression in Georgia and total disregard for civilian lives.

The Medvedev-Putin duo. These gentlemen have deemed Georgian President Sakashvili a person "that no one would talk to" and refuse to negotiate with him. But the same Russian leadership opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq, saying the world should talk to Saddam Hussein. They strongly oppose any strict sanctions against Iran, let alone support any pre-emptive strike on its nuclear facilities, claiming one should talk to President Ahmadinajad - an unstable character at the best of times. Moscow has been the only major capital to welcome the leadership of the Palestinian terror group Hamas - and it seems okay to talk to them, too.

Such erratic behaviour is bad news for the civilised world. The Cold War is not dead after all.

Andy Leitner

Israel