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 NNNN