An extradition treaty has been approved between Thailand and Cambodia to provide for the return of criminal suspects who face punishment of at least one year in prison but flee from one country to the other before trial.
The treaty will take effect in 30 days.
It is unclear what this will mean for high-profile suspect Sok Yoeun, accused in the 1998 rocket attack in Siem Reap that CPP party officials say was an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Sok Yoeun fled to Thailand and has been held there for more than a year, first on charges of illegally entering the country and then while the Cambodian government argues an extradition request filed last year. That request has not yet been ruled on by Thai courts.
At a ceremony Thursday to mark the final agreement on the treaty, Thai Ambassador Asiphol Chabchitrchaidol said only that the treaty will make it easier for the courts to make a ruling.
“I think it will help our judges …to make a ruling on the case. It is totally in the judicial branch,” he said.
Sok Yoeun’s lawyer has argued that the extradition requests should be denied because the Cambodian government is accusing his client of a politically motivated attack.
The lawyer said a politically motivated attack isn’t subject to extradition under the relevant Thai laws.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong, who also spoke at the ceremony, said the case is “up to Thailand to decide” but made it clear how the CPP views Sok Yoeun. “We regard him as a terrorist,” he said.
The case has been monitored by the UN, which granted “person of concern” status to Sok Yoeun. Opposition party activists said he would be killed if he was brought back to Cambodia.
Sam Rainsy Party members say the treaty should not change the outcome of the case.
“The extradition treaty, if I understand it, has no scope on political cases,” said Phi Thach, cabinet chief of the Sam Rainsy Party. “I hope the justice system in Thailand will be clear on Sok Yoeun’s case on not returning him to Cambodia.”
The treaty may become key to another high-profile case involving suspected Cambodian Freedom Fighters in Thailand.
Cambodia has asked that they be returned to face prosecution for the November attack on the Ministry of Defense.
The Thai Ambassador said Thai authorities agree that the CFF suspects are terrorists, adding that his government has attempted to cooperate with Cambodian officials on the case. No suspected CFF members have been arrested yet in Thailand.
The treaty was first signed in Bangkok in 1998, then ratified by the Cambodian government in 1999 and the Thai government in December.
Thursday’s ceremony was the exchange of the ratifications, the final step in the treaty’s approval.
