Latest news with #ExtraditionAct
Time of India
09-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
"Some serious pressure in this matter over judiciary to act contrary to law": Michel James' lawyer after court rejects request for release
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel After a Rouse Avenue Court rejected Christian Michel James ' request for release from custody, Aljo K Joseph , lawyer representing the AgustaWestland scam accused, alleged that the judiciary remains under "serious pressure" in this matter to act contrary to the the court for not taking cognizance of the law of the land, Joseph labelled the order "strange." He argued that the courts must consider section 21 of the Extradition Act in the case."I am amused by the order that has been passed today. My major submission was that section 21 of the Extradition Act, which is the law of the land, has to be considered even before framing the charge. This order is very strange. I don't know why the courts are not taking cognizance of the law of the land. There is some serious pressure in this matter over the judiciary to act contrary to the law," Joseph told Rouse Avenue Court has rejected the request of Christian Michel James for releasing him from custody in the VVIP chopper deal case. He had prayed for his release on the ground that he had undergone the maximum punishment of seven judge Sanjay Jindal rejected the prayer on Thursday after considering the submissions of CBI, ED and counsel for James."The request of the accused Christian Michel James for his release u/sec 436A CrPC stands declined," the Special Judge court said that it is clear that the issues raised by the accused Christian Michel James now, including the issue of his release under section 436A CrPC , have already been considered by this court, by the High Court and also by the Hon'ble Apex Court as described above."It has been held in categorical terms that the plea of the accused that he is entitled to the benefit under sec. 436A CrPC cannot be accepted as, besides the provisions of section 415 & 420 read with 120B IPC and section 8 of the PC Act, the accused is alleged to have committed an offence under section 467 IPC, which is punishable upto life imprisonment. Considering the allegations under section 467 IPC, which entails life imprisonment , it cannot be said that the accused has already undergone the period of maximum punishment prescribed for the alleged offences," the court court pointed out that the question of whether section 467 IPC is made out or not is to be decided at the relevant stage of framing of charges, and it cannot be said at this stage that section 467 cannot be attributed to the present accused."The judicial propriety does not allow this court to reconsider the above issues again and again when the Hon'ble Superior Courts have already given observations on the same," the court said.
IOL News
07-08-2025
- IOL News
86-year-old 'sex pest' teacher loses bid to dismiss case
Ian Wares, left, and his lawyer, Ben Mathewson, at the Wynberg court. Wares, who is wanted by UK authorities for 76 counts of sexual assault of young boys, has lost an application to have a Cape Town case discharged. Image: Genevieve Serra Former SA teacher, Iain Wares, who is wanted by UK authorities for 76 counts of sexual assault of young boys, has lost an application to have a Cape Town case discharged. Wares, 86, who walks using a walking stick, heard that his Section 174 discharge application was unsuccessful in the Wynberg Regional Court on Thursday. Magistrate Vanessa Miki said the State had enough evidence to proceed with the matter. She said that while looking at the evidence, it didn't warrant for the case to be rejected and therefore dismissed and refused the application. The application was brought by Ben Mathewson, Wares' lawyer, arguing that the State didn't have enough evidence to bring a prosecution and that the testimonies of two witnesses, that of the victim, lacked credibility. The local case involves a male victim who came forward after nearly four decades. Wares has since pleaded not guilty to the charge of indecent assault. With his legal team, he is also appealing his extradition to Scotland where he is supposed to stand for his alleged crimes abroad, arguing for the Extradition Act to be declared inconsistent with the Constitution. The responding parties brought their written and answering submissions and their notice to oppose the application earlier this year. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading The local case involves a victim dubbed 'Stephen', who took the witness stand last year where he told of the indecent assault Wares allegedly inflicted on him. The 47-year-old victim broke his silence claiming he was abused by Wares who was his teacher at Rondebosch Boys' Preparatory during 1988. Wares is accused of indecently assaulting the male victim by touching his buttocks and penis and rubbing his penis up against the victim. The victim's wife took the stand as the State closed its case, in which she revealed how her husband broke his silence after seeing Wares on television. During her testimony, the woman, who cannot be identified, told the court that while they watched an episode of Carte Blanche in 2022, her husband revealed that it was his teacher who had abused him and did so by pointing to Wares who was on television.
Daily Mail
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Labour is accused of betraying critics of China in UK who fled to Britain by opening door to extraditions
Labour was last night accused of betraying opponents of China who have fled to Britain by opening the door to extraditions to Hong Kong. Critics fear a legal change quietly announced by the Government will end the five-year ban on people being sent from the UK to face justice in the former colony. Security Minister Dan Jarvis said he wanted to 'enable co-operation' with Hong Kong once more, after the Tories suspended the extradition treaty in response to a security crackdown by Beijing amid fears that dissidents could be sent on to China. He wrote in a letter to the Conservatives that secondary legislation was needed, removing Hong Kong from its designation in the 2003 Extradition Act, so the UK can co-operate with it on a 'case-by-case ad hoc basis'. Currently a request cannot be allowed 'even if there were strong operational grounds to do so', Mr Jarvis wrote. Shadow National Security Minister Alicia Kearns said it was an 'extraordinary betrayal of Hong Kongers', more than 150,000 of whom have come to the UK on British National (Overseas) Visas since 2021. It comes as Labour is expected to approve plans for a Chinese 'mega-embassy' in London despite security fears, and as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to make his first visit to the communist superpower later this year. Critics fear a legal change quietly announced by the Government will end the five-year ban on people being sent from the UK to face justice in the former colony (pictured left: Security minister Dan Jarvis, pictured right: Shadow Security Minister Alicia Kearns) Ms Kearns said: 'This would allow the Chinese Communist Party to demand the extradition of dissidents for any number of falsified charges. 'I fear this is a grubby, shameful backhander – alongside a new embassy – for quick bucks to bail out Labour's failed economic strategy. Under no circumstances should the Government reinstate extradition as the rule of law has been severely eroded in Hong Kong.' And Mark Sabah of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation said: 'This is an awful decision by the Government. The question now is what else has Labour promised the CCP in order to secure the trade deal they covet so much?' Chloe Cheung, who fled Hong Kong in 2020 when she was 15 years old and had a £100,000 bounty issued by the CCP-controlled Hong Kong government for any information that could lead to her capture, told the Mail: 'If the Government follows through with this I would feel completely betrayed by Labour. 'I am really, really scared. If I were extradited I would be sent straight to prison under the National Security Law.' But last night the Home Office insisted the Extradition Act 2003 (Amendments to Designations) Order 2025, which will be voted on by Parliament after the summer, merely reflected in law the existing suspension of the extradition treaty with Hong Kong –and that co-operation was not resuming. Security Minister Mr Jarvis said: 'It is entirely incorrect to say the UK has restored extradition co-operation with Hong Kong. 'The 1997 treaty remains suspended and this legislation simply completes the severing of ties between the British and Hong Kong extradition systems. 'This amendment is in order to give legal effect to the suspension of the extradition treaty.'
The Sun
24-07-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Labour accused of paving way for China to extradite political opponents from UK amid £100k bounty scandal
LABOUR has been accused of plotting to restore an extradition deal which could let China deport its political opponents from the UK. Bounties of £100,000 are being offered to those who deliver Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners to the Chinese Embassy in London. 3 And Tories say proposed tweaks to the 2003 Extradition Act could see Chinese dissidents legally hauled back into the grip of the regime. Alicia Kearns, Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, who raised the alarm, said in a letter: 'Why has the Government introduced cooperation with Hong Kong, and by extension, the Chinese Communist Party authorities? 'Has freedom and the rule of law been returned to Hong Kong - or have you decided these issues are no longer saleable alongside the 'reset' in relations between the UK and China? 'You will be aware of the repression faced by Hong Kong democracy activists living in the UK, including the recent campaign of bounties. 'What guarantees can you give that no Hong Konger, CCP critic or anyone targeted by the CCP will be extradited under the new arrangement? 'We would be grateful for some clarity on why extraditions are being relaunched.' Iain Duncan Smith said: 'This would be an absolutely dreadful kowtow to the Chinese. 'I don't know how much more this government can do to show what an absolutely pathetic supplicant it has become. 'They do not seem to understand that China is the single biggest threat to freedom in the world today. 'They are, yet again, bending the knee to a regime hell bent on destroying democracy.' Labour's Security Minister Dan Jarvis denied the move. China beams LASER at German military plane 'endangering personnel' on mission in WW3 flashpoint Red Sea 3
Telegraph
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Labour opens door to extraditing Hong Kongers
Labour has opened the door to extraditing Hong Kongers for the first time in more than five years. The Home Office has said it is amending legislation to 'enable cooperation' between the UK and Hong Kong on matters of extradition. The previous Tory government suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in 2020 after China imposed its tough national security law in response to widespread political protests. The move by Labour has been branded an ' act of betrayal ' of the some 150,000 Hong Kongers who came to Britain under a special visa scheme launched in early 2021. But Dan Jarvis, the national security minister, vowed that the Government 'will never allow a situation where Hong Kongers or any other nationality is extradited for politically motivated purposes'. The Hong Kong national security law criminalises anything considered to be secessionist from China, and has led to a crackdown on critics of Beijing. It has also allowed cases, in certain circumstances, to be tried in mainland China. Mr Jarvis announced that Chile, Zimbabwe and Hong Kong were being redesignated 'to enable cooperation under the Extradition Act 2003'. In a letter to Chris Philp, the Tory shadow home secretary, he wrote: 'It is in our national interest to have effective extradition relationships to prevent criminals from evading justice and the UK becoming a haven for fugitives.' He suggested that changes needed to be made as no extradition to Hong Kong can currently be agreed 'even if there were strong operational grounds to do so'. Mr Jarvis added: 'The way to resolve this situation is to de-designate Hong Kong and Zimbabwe from the Act so that we can co-operate with them on the case-by-case ad hoc basis available for non-treaty partners.' The Government has insisted the move would not lead to a restoration of extradition co-operation with Hong Kong, but was a necessary legal step to allow the 'severing of ties'. But including Hong Kong in the Extradition Act will provide a pathway to extradition of Hong Kongers for the first time since the previous treaty was suspended. All extradition requests received by Britain are considered by the UK courts, and if judged to be politically motivated the request would be deemed incompatible with human rights laws. It comes as the Government has sought to develop closer links with Beijing, which Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, has said will be 'crucial' for economic growth. Mrs Reeves visited China in January, reviving economic meetings with Beijing that had not taken place since 2019. The Government is also considering giving the green light to a new Chinese 'super-embassy' in central London. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a former Tory leader, said that the proposals showed 'this government has lost it completely when it comes to China '. He told The Telegraph: 'This is another act of betrayal by the present British Labour Government, and I have many friends in the Labour Party who will be as appalled as I am about this idea. I don't know what they think they're doing. Chasing stupid money from China is never going to work.' Lord Sumption, a British judge, resigned from Hong Kong's highest court last year, warning that the rule of law there was 'profoundly compromised'. Alicia Kearns, the shadow national security minister, said: 'Reinstating extradition with Hong Kong is morally indefensible. The Chinese Communist Party has turned Hong Kong into a surveillance state where freedom of expression, rule of law, and basic civil liberties are systematically dismantled. 'This move risks legitimising a regime that imprisons critics, silences democracy activists, and uses extradition as a tool of persecution. 'The Government must immediately abandon this proposal and guarantee that no Hong Konger will ever be sent to face justice in a system that has no justice to offer.' Mr Jarvis said: 'It is entirely incorrect to say the UK has restored extradition co-operation with Hong Kong. The 1997 treaty remains suspended and this legislation simply completes the severing of ties between the British and Hong Kong extradition systems. This amendment is in order to give legal effect to the suspension of the extradition treaty with Hong Kong. 'This government is unwavering in its commitment to upholding human rights, the rule of law, and the safety of all individuals in the UK, including the many Hong Kongers who have made this country their home.' Mr Jarvis added: 'The UK is proud to have welcomed around 160,000 Hong Kongers since our British National (Overseas) route was opened in 2021. These communities are making a much-valued contribution across our country.'
