UK-US extradition deal attacked by Lib Dems

10.16.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 14th Feb 2008

extradition laws unfair - Huhne

The UK's extradition laws have been attacked as "unfair" in the wake of the Appeal Court ruling that a wrongly accused pilot, Lotfi Raissi, can claim compensation. "If Mr Raissi were held under current rules he would have been extradited to the US, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman" said Chris Huhne.

Chris Huhne said that the Appeal Court ruling "demonstrates how this Government has risked serious miscarriages of justice by entering into an inherently unbalanced treaty with the United States, which seriously undermines the rights of British citizens". He added: "Somebody in Mr Raissi's position today would not be in the Court of Appeal but languishing in an American prison, under current extradition rules. "The government must undertake an immediate review of the Extradition Act and reopen negotiations, so that we can have the same protections enjoyed by US citizens."

Mr Raissi's supporters say he was "lucky" to be arrested before 2003

The UK's extradition laws have been attacked as "unfair" in the wake of the Appeal Court ruling that a wrongly accused pilot can claim compensation. They have called for a review of a deal with the US which critics say removes the right to challenge extradition.

Court of Appeal judges said evidence suggested there were "serious defaults" in the decision to detain Mr Raissi in prison for nearly five months in 2001 after a US extradition request over alleged links to the 9/11 attacks.

The extradition treaty - signed by Home Secretary David Blunkett and US Attorney General John Ashcroft in March 2003 - removed the requirement of the US government to present evidence to a British court when seeking to extradite a suspect. If Mr Raissi had been arrested now in exactly the same circumstances he would simply be whisked off to the United States.