An alleged human smuggler who was caught in Sihanoukville a year ago has been approved for extradition from Thailand to Australia, Australian news outlets reported recently.
The Bangkok criminal court on Aug 26 granted Australia’s request for the extradition of Pakistani Hasan Ayoub, 33, according to the Australian Associated Press news service. If Ayoub does not appeal within 15 days he must be sent to Australia within three months.
Ayoub is thought to be a major ringleader of human-smuggling operations between Indonesia and Australia. When he was caught by a sting operation of Australian and Cambodian police in July 2001, police also captured a fishing boat carrying 241 Afghans and Pakistanis, Australian newspaper The Age reported.
After his arrest on immigration charges he spent five months in a Cambodian jail. But since Cambodia has no extradition agreement with Australia, he was set to be deported to Pakistan last December.
Thai authorities took advantage of Ayoub’s layover at the Bangkok airport to arrest him and take him into custody on an Australian federal warrant, The Age reported.
People smuggling has become a hot political issue in Australia. Prime Minister John Howard was re-elected largely on the strength of his vow to stop the boatloads of illegal immigrants that were flooding into the country.
Ayoub faces 13 charges of violating Australia’s Migration Act, some of which carry up to 20 year sentences, AAP reported.
Many of the passengers of the Sihanoukville boat were said to be fleeing the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan. All were voluntarily returned to their home countries, officials said at the time.
In court, the suspect insisted that he was actually Naeem Ahmad Chaudry, a carpet seller, but police said many of the boat passengers had identified him as the man who promised to smuggle them to Australia, The Australian newspaper reported.
Ayoub said he planned to appeal, The Australian reported. “The allegations are wrong…. I am a businessman,” he was quoted as saying.