By JEREMY PAGE
Updated June 20, 2012,
The Wall Street Journal
BEIJING—The Chinese government has asked Cambodia to
extradite to China a French architect with close ties to the wife of
the ousted Communist Party official Bo Xilai, said Cambodia's deputy
national police chief.
Beijing requested the extradition of
Patrick Henri Devillers last week because it suspected him of
involvement in the scandal that brought down Mr. Bo, Cambodia's deputy
national police commissioner, Sok Phal, told The Wall Street Journal.
"We don't know yet how to deal with him because the situation is
changing all the time. We are now investigating the case more," Mr. Sok
said. "We may extradite him to China due to the agreement between the
two countries."
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it had no information on the matter.
France's Foreign Ministry declined to comment on whether China was
trying to extradite Mr. Devillers, but said it was following his case
closely and that no charges should be brought against him without a
proper legal basis.
The Frenchman used to live in China and according to people who knew
him there had close ties to Mr. Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, who the Chinese
government says is a murder suspect in the death in China last year of
Neil Heywood, a British business consultant. Ms. Gu hasn't commented on
the allegations.
The Chongqing Drama
The mysterious death of Neil Heywood in the Chinese city of Chongqing last year is emerging as a key element in the drama surrounding Bo Xilai, who was sacked as Chongqing's Communist Party chief in April.
Messrs. Devillers and Heywood were both part
of a small circle of friends and advisers around Ms. Gu in the
northeastern city of Dalian in the 1990s, when Mr. Bo was mayor there.
The Frenchman also shared a residential address with her in the
southern British city of Bournemouth between 2000 and 2003, according to
British public records.
It is extremely rare for any country to extradite a citizen of a European Union nation to China.
Bernard Valero, a French foreign ministry spokesman, said French
authorities had been told Mr. Devillers, a resident of Cambodia, was
arrested on June 13.
"We're very closely following this case, making sure he has consular
protection. The consul visited him immediately after his arrest and
keeps visiting him every day since," he said.
"We have asked the Cambodian authorities clarification on the motives
for his arrest. We also expressed our vigilance that no charge of any
sort can be pressed against him if the juridical basis isn't clearly
established."
Cambodia is a major recipient of Chinese economic aid and investment,
and Mr. Devillers' arrest coincided with a visit last week by He
Guoqiang, the Chinese leader overseeing the probe of the Bo case.
Cambodia, which has an extradition treaty with China, attracted
international criticism in 2009 when it deported to China 20 Chinese
asylum seekers from the mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority, which
mainly inhabits the northwestern region of Xinjiang.
—Sun Narin in Phnom Penh and Geraldine Amiel in Paris contributed to this article.Write to Jeremy Page at jeremy.page@wsj.com
1 comment:
Cambodian government has the extradite treaty with Chinese government related to crime that both national committed but in the case of Frenchman Patrick Devillers he is French national and not Cambodian national, therefore Cambodian government has no right to arrest him for China. The extradite should take place between China and France, if France allow to extradite Patrick to China then Cambodia can assist France and China by issue warrant arrest to Patrick but beside that Cambodia can not arrest Patrick, he live in Cambodia legally so he should be protected by Cambodian government.
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