A THAI CASE OF EXTRADITION: POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY AND MERCY

By Alexander Shytov(1)

The term ‘extradition” comes from two Latin words: ex: "from" and traditio: "to hand over." Extradition is defined as the surrender, according to the provisions of a treaty, agreement, or statute, by one state of an alleged criminal to another state, the latter state having charged and being competent to try and punish the alleged criminal(2). Extradition becomes increasingly common practice in international relations. This article looks at one of the cases of extradition in Thailand which has certain extraordinary characteristics. It was a case of Eric Franklin Rosser, a former celebrity, a tragic figure who was poisoned by the venom of pornography and was made an enemy of the US Government. This was a political case since the US Administration wanted a high profile case to win the conservative votes. On the other hand there were some circumstances in favour of showing mercy to the man, the circumstances which were left by a Thai court unheeded.

THE FACTS OF THE CASE AND ITS OUTCOME:
The concise presentation of the facts in this case was given by BBC(3):
“A court in Thailand has ordered the extradition of an American man wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of producing and distributing child pornography. Eric Franklin Rosser, a former internationally renowned concert pianist, is expected to be extradited back to the US within three months, court officials said on

Part  2

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(1) The author of this article is a Russian lawyer who holds a Doctorate degree in law from the Russian Academy of Public Administration in Moscow, MLitt and PhD in law from St Andrews and Glasgow universities in Scotland. He is currently a full time lecturer at law school in Chiang Mai University, Thailand. For the comments he can be contacted at: School of Law, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University. Chiang Mai. 50200 Thailand; e-mail: shytov@yahoo.com
(2) See Dictionary of International Law: http://august1.com/pubs/dict/e.htm
(3) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2203165.stm