EXTRADITION: SLOVAKIA READY TO SUPPORT, WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000780

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: 09/25/2010
TAGS: KJUS PREL EU LO
SUBJECT: EXTRADITION: SLOVAKIA READY TO SUPPORT, WITH
CONDITIONS

REF: STATE 161305

Classified By: Ambassador Rudolphe Vallee for reason 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Justice Minister Daniel Lipsic told
Ambassador during his introductory call September 26 that
Slovakia hopes to finalize a comprehensive bilateral treaty
on extradition during October 17-18 discussions with US
negotiators. In reaction to reftel talking points, Lipsic
provided us with a MOJ proposal (see text in para 6) for
addressing the "extradition of own nationals." Lipsic will
present the proposal, which provides two alternatives that
focus on the punishments as opposed to the underlying crimes,
to the cabinet in the next 7 to 10 days. Post requests any
Dept. and DOJ comments on the proposal by COB September 29 so
that they can pass them along to the MOJ before the cabinet
discussion. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Ambassador, DCM and Pol/Econ deputy met with Minister
of Justice Daniel Lipsic September 26 to discuss next steps
on extradition and mutual legal assistance treaties per
reftel. The Minister was joined by his office director,
Anton Chromik, MOJ's Head of International and European Law,
Peter Banas, and Head of EU Affairs, Jana Vnukova. Reftel
talking points had been delivered to the Minister's Office on
September 12, and discussed in a meeting with MOJ State
Secretary Lucia Zitnanska and Jana Vnukova on September 22.

SIPDIS
Zitnanska and Vnukova conveyed that Slovakia "does not want
to be the troublemaker" in the US-EU extradition treaty
initiative, and that the MOJ would welcome our advisors on
October 17 and 18. They said they wanted to follow the lead
of the UK (as EU President) and try to complete the
extradition treaty by the end of the year.


3. (C) Lipsic likewise expressed his desire to move forward
expeditiously and hopes to finalize a comprehensive bilateral
extradition treaty during the October 17-18 discussions with
USG interlocutors. Although he prefers a more comprehensive
bilateral treaty, Lipsic noted that if U.S. and Slovak
negotiators are unable to reach an agreement on a bilateral
treaty during the October discussions, Slovakia would instead
move forward with the implementing instruments for the US -
EU treaties. In either case, due to the time lag in
preparing the treaty for Parliament and the current
pre-election political instability, Lipsic would not expect
Parliament to take up ratification proceedings before the end
of their current session, though he did not rule out the
possibility. Elections are expected sometime between June
and September next year, and Parliament can be in session up
to three weeks prior to the election.


4. (C) Lipsic provided the Ambassador with two alternative
proposals (see text in para 6 below) for the "extradition of
own nationals." These proposals are meant to replace the
reftel proposed list of serious offenses for which nationals
would be extradited, which Embassy presented in draft form
(Article 3, Nationality) to the GOS with the reftel talking
points. Lipsic explained that the MOJ was more concerned in
specifying the type of punishment that extradited Slovak
nationals receive, as opposed to negotiating a list of the
specific crimes. He noted that the two alternatives are in
line with the approach used in other extradition agreements
between the US and other unspecified EU countries, and that
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs backed these proposals.
Alternative One would limit the maximum period of
imprisonment for a Slovak national extradited to the U.S. to
8 years, among other conditions. Alternative Two does not
limit the period of imprisonment, but allows the Minister of
Justice in Slovakia (and his counterpart in the U.S.) to
refuse to extradite a national under certain conditions. He
hopes to obtain cabinet approval for the proposals October 5
(or October 11 at the latest) so that his negotiators will
have a mandate to move forward with us. The cabinet could
approve both or just one of the two alternatives. Lipsic
stated that he personally preferred Alternative Two, but
would support either proposal.


5. (C) COMMENT: Lipsic appears ready to move forward with an
extradition treaty. He is confident that the Cabinet will
support his proposals, but is also realistic enough to
recognize the difficulty in getting Parliamentary support
during the current session. We encourage the Dept. and DOJ
to provide comments on the MOJ Alternatives by COB September
29 so that we can provide feedback back to the MOJ before the
proposals are presented to the cabinet. Minister Lipsic


plans to travel to the U.S. in early November for a "Rule of
Law" symposium that is being put on by the American Bar
Association/CEELI. He hopes to meet with USG officials
during his visit, which provides an opportunity for
high-level USG follow-up to the October discussions. END
COMMENT.


6. (SBU) BEGIN VERBATIM TEXT OF MOJ PROPOSAL:

Alternatives of extradition of own nationals proposed by the
Slovak Republic

ALT 1:
1) The requested state shall extradite an accused or
convicted person, who is its national, under the conditions
that there is no reason for refusal of extradition as stated
in Articles ... and:
a) such a person is also the national of the requesting state
or lodged a request for the citizenship of the requesting
state prior the offence has been committed,
b) such a person, at the time of the commission of the
criminal offence as defined in Article... of this Treaty, had
a permanent residence at the territory of the requesting
state at least for 3 years,
c) such a person is accused or was convicted of a commitment
of the criminal offence punishable by the laws of both
requesting and requested states, for a maximum period of at
least 8 years of imprisonment, or
d) such a person has significant ties with the requesting
state.
2) Paragraph 1 does not apply to cases in which the capital
punishment can be or was imposed

ALT 2:
The Contracting Parties extradite their nationals, if
conditions of this Treaty are fulfilled. The Minister of
Justice of the Slovak Republic and/or ....... of the U.S. may
refuse the extradition of the accused or convicted person,
who is national of the requested state, in particular, if:
a) the court decides the extradition is inadmissible,
b) there is reasonable ground to believe that the criminal
proceedings in the requesting state did not or would not
comply with the principles of Articles 3 and 6 of the
Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms or that the prison sentence imposed or anticipated
in the requesting state would not be executed in accordance
with the requirements of Article 3 of the said Convention,
(the conditions of Articles 3 and 6 would be defined and
there will be no reference to the Convention itself).
c) there is a reasonable ground to believe that the person
whose extradition is sought would in the requesting state be
subjected to persecution for reasons of his origin, race,
religion, association with a particular national minority or
class, his nationality or political opinions or that due to
these factors his status in the criminal proceedings or in
the enforcement of the sentence would be prejudice, or
d) taking into account the age and personal circumstances of
the person whose extradition is sought, he would most likely
be inadequately severly punished by extradition in proportion
to the level of gravity of the criminal offence he allegedly
committed.

Note: If neither of these alternatives is acceptable, the
Slovak Republic is prepared to negotiate the single written
instrument. END VERBATIM TEXT.
VALLEE


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