Mar. 6, 2007: Canada: Haven to the World's Most Wanted

Via the Judicial Activist Enablers

Prime Time Crime: Leo Knight, a former Canadian police officer, security expert and media commentator -- Fugitives among us , March 04, 2007

leoknight.blogspot.com/2007/03/fugitives-among-us.html

Kudos to The Province's Fabian Dawson and Mike Roberts....

Don't miss them as they show a clear and decisive result of what happens when judicial activism trumps the will of Parliament. [....]

Canada: Haven for world's most wanted , The Province, March 04, 2007 -- Fabian Dawson, Project Editor, and Michael Roberts Reporting

www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.ht
ml?id=b088fcde-9299-46a6-b9f6-322f80f9d698&k=10407

[....] Canada's hesitancy in dispatching fugitives back to the countries where they are wanted is an increasingly sore point among foreign governments. [....]

The latest case involves a trio of former bankers with the Bank of China. They are accused in an embezzlement scheme involving $100 million. [....]

Why do the world's most wanted seek sanctuary in Canada?

Many are wealthy, allegedly having plundered the treasuries, banks and businesses of their home countries.

They know that, with the right lawyers, they can exploit Canada's extradition system to buy indefinite liberty.

There's one track for the wealthy fugitive, another for the poor, says one extradition lawyer.

"No lawyer's going to take legal aid for making submissions to the minister of justice," he quips.

Canadian law provides a host of options and "protections" within the context of extradition.

"The Charter [of Rights] applies to every aspect of the process," a justice department official says. "That's our system. We can't fault [fugitives] for availing themselves of their legal rights."

And those rights have become more deeply entrenched with rulings by the Supreme Court of Canada that effectively open new loopholes. [....]

COMING UP IN OUR SERIES:

Today: Wanted in Thailand, plus Canada's painfully-slow extradition process.
Monday: Fugitives from the Philippines find a way to stay in Canada.
Tuesday: A Mexican fugitive's fight changes the law.
Wednesday: Murder in India. A son's fight for justice.
Thursday: Chinese bankers stash their loot in B.C.
Friday: Your views on our series.

Worth reading.