Cambodia will not extradite
a French architect who is under arrest over links to disgraced Chinese
politician Bo Xilai (AFP/File, Tang Chhin Sothy)
By Jonathan Manthorpe,
Vancouver Sun
June 25, 2012
Cambodia has decided not to deport to China a French
architect wanted by Beijing authorities as they investigate disgraced
would-be leader Bo Xilai and the murder of a British businessman.
Meanwhile a Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, on Friday quoted Chinese Communist Party sources as saying that Gu Kailai, the wife of Bo, the sacked party boss of the megacity Chongqing, has confessed to investigators that she was responsible for the killing of the British businessman, Neil Heywood.
According to the newspaper, Gu told investigators she killed Heywood in November last year because he was about to reveal that she was moving billions of dollars out of China into overseas accounts and investments.
The French architect, Patrick Devillers, worked on projects in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian when Bo was mayor in the 1990s.
And Devillers went on to become a business partner of Bo's wife Gu, but in 2005 he left China and moved to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
At the request of Chinese authorities Devillers was arrested outside Phnom Penh on June 13.
But Cambodian authorities made it plain from the start they were reluctant to deport him to China, even though Cambodia has an extradition treaty with Beijing.
Cambodian officials said early last week they were weighing the legality of extraditing a French citizen, who had committed no crime in Cambodia, to China. The officials also said they wanted a clear statement from the Chinese about what Devillers is alleged to have done before they would agree to his deportation.
That statement does not seem to have been forthcoming from the Chinese, and it is known that the Phnom Penh government was also lobbied hard by French officials on Devillers behalf.
On Friday Cambodia's foreign minister Hor. Namhong told reporters "The decision is already made. We'll keep him here and won't extradite him anywhere, not to France or China."
It remains unclear how Devillers fits into the murky story of the disgrace of Bo Xilai, if he fits at all.
The ambitious Bo was poised to gain a seat during personnel changes later this year at the hub of power in China, the nine-member standing committee of the 20-member Politburo, itself an executive committee of the party's 300-member Central Committee.
But Bo's world came tumbling down in March after his former police chief and long-time aide fled to the United States consulate in Chengdu. He told American officials, and later Chinese investigators, about the suspicions that Gu had murdered Heywood and recounted the illegal and draconian measures Bo had employed in a much-hyped campaign against crime and corruption in Chongqing.
Bo was sacked from his post as party boss of Chongqing and suspended from his membership of the party's Central Committee.
He remains under house arrest and there is not yet any firm indication of how the Communist party plans to deal with his case.
Bo's wife, Gu, however is in police custody. Little information has been made public about the case against Gu, once a high-flying lawyer in China.
Meanwhile a Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, on Friday quoted Chinese Communist Party sources as saying that Gu Kailai, the wife of Bo, the sacked party boss of the megacity Chongqing, has confessed to investigators that she was responsible for the killing of the British businessman, Neil Heywood.
According to the newspaper, Gu told investigators she killed Heywood in November last year because he was about to reveal that she was moving billions of dollars out of China into overseas accounts and investments.
The French architect, Patrick Devillers, worked on projects in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian when Bo was mayor in the 1990s.
And Devillers went on to become a business partner of Bo's wife Gu, but in 2005 he left China and moved to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
At the request of Chinese authorities Devillers was arrested outside Phnom Penh on June 13.
But Cambodian authorities made it plain from the start they were reluctant to deport him to China, even though Cambodia has an extradition treaty with Beijing.
Cambodian officials said early last week they were weighing the legality of extraditing a French citizen, who had committed no crime in Cambodia, to China. The officials also said they wanted a clear statement from the Chinese about what Devillers is alleged to have done before they would agree to his deportation.
That statement does not seem to have been forthcoming from the Chinese, and it is known that the Phnom Penh government was also lobbied hard by French officials on Devillers behalf.
On Friday Cambodia's foreign minister Hor. Namhong told reporters "The decision is already made. We'll keep him here and won't extradite him anywhere, not to France or China."
It remains unclear how Devillers fits into the murky story of the disgrace of Bo Xilai, if he fits at all.
The ambitious Bo was poised to gain a seat during personnel changes later this year at the hub of power in China, the nine-member standing committee of the 20-member Politburo, itself an executive committee of the party's 300-member Central Committee.
But Bo's world came tumbling down in March after his former police chief and long-time aide fled to the United States consulate in Chengdu. He told American officials, and later Chinese investigators, about the suspicions that Gu had murdered Heywood and recounted the illegal and draconian measures Bo had employed in a much-hyped campaign against crime and corruption in Chongqing.
Bo was sacked from his post as party boss of Chongqing and suspended from his membership of the party's Central Committee.
He remains under house arrest and there is not yet any firm indication of how the Communist party plans to deal with his case.
Bo's wife, Gu, however is in police custody. Little information has been made public about the case against Gu, once a high-flying lawyer in China.
The present relationship between Bo
and Gu is even unclear. There have been several reports that the couple
separated some years ago and Bo has been quoted as telling friends he
regrets not having divorced Gu.
He is reported to have said that he would be in a better position to defend himself now if he had divorced Gu.
There have been persistent reports that Gu killed Hey-wood with poison at a hotel outside Chongqing because he threatened to reveal her illegal transferring of money overseas, an effort in which he is said to have played a major role.
The French architect Devillers came to the attention of Bo and his wife when he helped Bo rebuild much of central Dalian in the 1990s.
This highly successful campaign of urban renewal was a major element in Bo's rising political career and his establishment as a national political figure in the last decade.
All that is known about the relationship between Devillers and Gu is that they were partners in 2000 in a company set up in Britain to select European architects to work on projects in China.
On the documents establishing the company they both gave the same address, an apartment in the English seaside resort of Bournemouth.
jmanthorpe@vancouversun.com
He is reported to have said that he would be in a better position to defend himself now if he had divorced Gu.
There have been persistent reports that Gu killed Hey-wood with poison at a hotel outside Chongqing because he threatened to reveal her illegal transferring of money overseas, an effort in which he is said to have played a major role.
The French architect Devillers came to the attention of Bo and his wife when he helped Bo rebuild much of central Dalian in the 1990s.
This highly successful campaign of urban renewal was a major element in Bo's rising political career and his establishment as a national political figure in the last decade.
All that is known about the relationship between Devillers and Gu is that they were partners in 2000 in a company set up in Britain to select European architects to work on projects in China.
On the documents establishing the company they both gave the same address, an apartment in the English seaside resort of Bournemouth.
jmanthorpe@vancouversun.com
1 comment:
Good job sent him back to his hometown lets France deal with this...
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