FINLAND: STATUS OF EXTRADITION AND MLAT AGREEMENTS

UNCLAS HELSINKI 000885 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KCRM KJUS CJAN KTIA EUN FI SUBJECT: FINLAND: STATUS OF EXTRADITION AND MLAT AGREEMENTS REF: A. THOME-PROPP E-MAILS JUNE 2007 ¶B. SCHLAEFER-PROPP-NARDI E-MAILS FEBRUARY 2007 ¶C. STATE 163864 ¶1. (U) On Dec. 11, the Finnish Parliament ratified the US-EU Agreements on Extradition and Mutual legal Assistance between the United States and the European Union, which had been signed in Washington on June 25, 2003. Parliament also approved the implementing bilateral instruments. Tuomo Antila, senior counsel to the Parliament's Legal Affairs (LA) committee, told PolChief that, technically, "Parliament has given its consent to ratification," and that the next steps now occur in Brussels. However, he confirmed that the "Finnish portion" of the ratification process for both the agreements themselves and for the implementing bilateral instruments is now complete. ¶2. (SBU) Finnish ratification had been held up since late 2005 largely because of some MPs' concerns over US use of the death penalty; alleged CIA renditions in Europe; and the perceived impact these US-EU agreements might have on these two issues. The Embassy has engaged in nearly a year of outreach with concerned MPs, including the chairs of the LA and Constitutional Law committees, in an attempt to allay their fears (reftels). We are pleased to now be able to report the results of these positive efforts. HYATT