POLITICAL AND PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES MOVING

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000440

SIPDIS


STATE FOR L/LEI- K. PROPP, EUR/NCE AND EUR/ERA
PARIS FOR DOJ - K. HARRIS
USEU FOR M. RICHARD
VIENNA FOR DHS/ICE - D. MRKVA
DOJ FOR OIA - D. GAYNUS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2015
TAGS: PREL KJUS EU LO
SUBJECT: POLITICAL AND PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES MOVING
FORWARD ON EXTRADITION

REF: A. PROPP-HEVIA EMAIL 19 APR 2005

B. BRATISLAVA 296

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Scott N. Thayer for reasons 1.5 (b) an
d (d).


1. (C) After the U.S. negotiating team and Slovak Ministry
of Justice Director for Judicial Cooperation in Criminal
Matters Branislav Bohacik failed to reach agreement April 14
on pursuing bilateral extradition and mutual legal assistance
treaties (or on signing instruments to implement US-EU
treaties--Ref A),Pol-Econ Chief attempted to meet with
Bohacik for a readout. In a May 4 e-mail he wrote, "I can
confirm that we did not reach any agreement with your
colleagues. They also suggested to communicate directly in
order to avoid any misunderstanding...We took into
consideration that there is no interest on your side to
conclude full bilateral agreements. Our policy is a
different one; we still prefer to have full treaties. The
issue is still under consideration within interested
authorities." Since then, it has been impossible to get on
Bohacik's calendar.


2. (C) While the issue is "still under consideration," it may
be contributing to a lack of will to cooperate on judicial
matters. In response to the requests for provisional arrests
for extradition of Slovak nationals we delivered April 12
(ref B),the Deputy Head of the International Department of
the General Prosecutor's office wrote to DHS/ICE Vienna,
"Regarding the fact that internal legal regulations admit the
extradition of Slovak citizens only if a promulgated
international treaty so stipulates, the extradition of the
named persons is out of question...Seizure of property is
impossible. The legal regulations of the Slovak Republic
require the existence of an international contractual
(treaty) basis to which both countries are bound in the event
of interference with property rights. Since we did not
identify such an international treaty, the seizure of
property seems to us impossible to execute...I very much
regret to have to state that we did not succeed in
identifying a legal basis on which we could execute the legal
acts you have requested." We have also detected an
unwillingness to engage in more informal investigative
cooperation, which we are trying to overcome.


3. (C) Comment: It is only speculation that there is a
connection between failed talks in Brussels and the assertion
by the Slovak General Prosecutor's Office that there is no
international legal agreement upon which they can base
cooperation. The General Prosecutor's office is independent
and not under the control of the Ministry of Justice.
Nonetheless, Bohacik's inference that he has been advised by
DOJ not to talk with the Embassy hinders our ability to probe
further on next steps for extradition and/or mutual legal
assistance treaties, or for the MOJ's read on these specific
cases.


4. (C) Post would appreciate an update on treaty discussions
with the Slovaks, before attempting again to meet with
Bohacik.
THAYER


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