Kasit: We have told Dubai dozens of time

It is up to each country that Thaksin Shinawatra visits to decide whether to extradite him or not, and extradition can be done either on a reciprocal basis or under an existing extradition agreement.  But countries are concerned that extradition must not be carried out for political reasons.  Thaksin has been involved in both political and criminal cases, and this makes it difficult to see the difference.  We have tried to explain that our extradition requests are based on criminal grounds, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told reporters on 28 Dec.

He said that the extradition of the Russian Victor Bout, for example, was purely on criminal grounds, and it was easy for the Thai government to make a decision.  Rakesh Saxena, a suspect in the BBC embezzlement case, who was extradited from Canada, was also criminal, so Canada was able to make a decision.

When asked about the progress on an extradition agreement with the United Arab Emirates, Kasit said that the Foreign Ministry and the Office of the Attorney-General had been in negotiations with several countries, but agreements could not be reached immediately.

However, some countries can cooperate with us without such an agreement, while other countries require an agreement.  It is different with each country, he said.

Asked whether this was because Thaksin had good personal relationship with certain countries, Kasit denied this and said that it could not be perceived that way because we had no evidence, and this was just speculation or interpretation.  We have to stick to the principles of law, he said.

Asked whether Thai politicians’ visits to Thaksin abroad were considered political mobilization, Kasit said that he and everyone else saw that Thaksin was mobilizing politically.  Several countries have told Thaksin not to use their countries as a base for his political activities.  Kasit took note that Thaksin’s phone-ins to red-shirt gatherings had recently been less frequent.  

However, he had no idea where Thaksin made his most recent phone-ins from.  He guessed that Thaksin might have spoken from his airplane.  He said that the Foreign Ministry was not a secret service agency. It was not the Ministry’s job to know where Thaksin was sleeping today.

Kasit said that the Ministry had made dozens of requests to the UAE government, and the requests were still outstanding.  Politicians who travelled to meet Thaksin should cooperate [with the government].  He believed that the UAE was well aware what this was all about, because its embassy in Thailand issued the visa.

‘Don’t blame the Foreign Ministry for giving in. I insist that we have always told [the UAE], but it is up to them to make a decision.  And this is not new.  This has been talked about for 2-3 years already.  We’ve always given them the information.  But as they have not made a decision, we cannot force them.  It is at their discretion and their judicial process to decide whether they cooperate with us or not.  And we will take no further measures.  We’re a country which respects the rules between countries,’ Kasit said.

Source: 
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