Information Minister Khieu Kanharith reiterated on Friday that Cambodia would not be extraditing French national Patrick Henri Devillers for his involvement in a high profile political scandal in China unless the country receives evidence linking him with a crime.
“We can detain him to keep him in the country and China can send a judge to question him here,” Mr. Kanharith said on the sidelines of a conference at the Information Ministry.
“He has not been sentenced so we cannot send him” to China, he added.
Mr. Kanharith also said that China would have to file a request with Interpol if it wanted to see Mr. Devillers extradited. It is believed that Mr. Devillers is wanted for his financial relationship with Gu Kailai, the wife of former Chinese Communist Party politician Bo Xilai. But so far there has been no accusations made against Mr. Deveillers.
Mr. Devillers has been in the custody of the Cambodian authorities since he was arrested two weeks ago in Phnom Penh at the behest of China. France initially asked Cambodia to clarify why it arrested Mr. Devillers and has since been silent on the subject.
