Eight extradition Treaties so far

Manjula Fernando

With the Cabinet nod to enter into an Extradition Treaty with Ukraine last week, Sri Lanka has a total of eight such bi-lateral agreements with countries including China, Russia and USA.

So far the country has signed extradition treaties with China, Hong Kong, Italy, Maldives, Russia, UAE, USA and Vietnam. The Agreement with China was signed early this year while the Russian Treaty was given effect last year.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said, the Government is at present in the process of negotiating or finalising about 10 similar treaties with other countries.

He said the Draft agreement with Ukrain was finalised in March this year. The delegation that negotiated the Treaty comprised the Attorney General and senior officials of the Ministries of Justice, Defence and Foreign Affairs. It will provide to seek from the Ukrainian authorities to deport criminals who have engaged in illegal activities in Sri Lanka and sought refuge in Ukraine. The draft agreement submitted by the President as the Defence Minister was approved at last Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.