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Status Brief

Developmental Milestones/Developments to Date:

Current Assessment/State of the Field:




Savage, Charlie, “Experts Urge Keeping Two Options for Terror Trials,” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/us/politics/09terror.html, March 8, 2010

  1. ”Former counterterrorism officials are warning that the political debate has lost touch with the pragmatic advantages of keeping both the civilian and military systems available.”
  2. ”Among the problems with a commissions-only policy, they say, are that some nations will not extradite terrorism suspects or provide evidence to the United States except for civilian trials; federal courts offer a greater variety of charges for use in pressuring a defendant to cooperate; military commission rules do not authorize a judge to accept a guilty plea from a defendant in a capital case; and the military system is legally untested, so any guilty verdict is vulnerable to being overturned on appeal.”



Simons, Marlise, “Accused in a Ponzi Scheme, Fugitive Extradited to Serbia“, NYT, March 28, 2010.

  1. ”A notorious fugitive Serbian banker accused of stealing more than $130 million in a Ponzi scheme was extradited to Serbia from the Netherlands on Friday, the Dutch authorities confirmed Sunday.”

Extradition, Netherlands, Serbia


Weiser, Benjamin, “Ex-Brooklyn College Student Admits Conspiring to Help Al Qaeda,” NYT, April 27, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/nyregion/28hashmi.html

  1. ”In a widely watched terrorism case, a former Brooklyn College student admitted in court on Tuesday that he had conspired to provide Al Qaeda with what prosecutors described as military gear.”
  2. ”The former student, Syed Hashmi, 30, was to go on trial on Wednesday in Federal District Court in Manhattan, three years after he was extradited from Britain and accused by prosecutors of conspiring with others to provide Al Qaeda with military gear that was to be used against American forces in Afghanistan.”
  3. ”As part of his deal, the government will drop three other charges and allow him to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to Al Qaeda, prosecutors said.”
  4. ”Mr. Hashmi, a Pakistani who became an American citizen, has been in custody for four years, and with possible sentence reductions for good behavior, could be released by the age of 40, Mr. Ruhnke said.”
  5. ”He acknowledged, under questioning by Mr. Ruhnke, that in 2004, while he was a graduate student in London, he knew that a man staying with him was planning to deliver outdoor gear like ponchos, sleeping bags and waterproof socks to Al Qaeda for use in Afghanistan.”
  6. ”Mr. Ruhnke asked whether Mr. Hashmi knew that the United States considered Al Qaeda a terrorist organization.”
  7. ”He also acknowledged lending the man $300 to buy a plane ticket to carry the gear to South Waziristan, an area of western Pakistan, for use by Al Qaeda.”

Extradition, Jurisdiction, Material Support


SAYARE, SCOTT, “Noriega Arrives in France for Charges,NYT, April 27, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/world/europe/28noriega.html

  1. ”After a six year extradition battle, former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega arrived early Tuesday in France, where he was served with an international arrest warrant and is expected to face charges of laundering drug money.”
  2. ”France requested Mr. Noriega’s extradition in 2004, said Guillaume Didier, a Justice Ministry spokesman. Mr. Noriega was scheduled for release from prison in Florida in September 2007, but was held as he fought extradition. In late March, a federal judge lifted a stay blocking his transfer. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton then signed a surrender warrant; French officials were notified of the decision in mid-April.”
  3. ”In Paris, Mr. Noriega is to be retried on the same money laundering charges for which he was convicted in 1999, risking up to 10 years in prison. He will be jailed pending the trial, which, by law, must begin within two months, said Mr. Didier, the ministry spokesman.”

Extradition, France


Erlanger, Steve, ”France Denies Deal With Iran for Teacher’s Release”, NYT, May 16, 2010,  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/17/world/europe/17france.html?ref=world

  1. “French officials have said the charges against her were baseless and also denied that her release was in exchange for a French court’s decision on May 5 to deny an American extradition request for an Iranian businessman accused of violating the trade embargo against Iran.”
  2. ”Justice Department officials in Washington said they suspected that the release of the businessman, Majid Kakavand, 37, was a quid pro quo for the release of Ms. Reiss.”
  3. ”Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner denied any deal again on Sunday. “There is no connection between these two Iranian cases, which were dealt with by the French justice system, and the freedom of our hostage,” he told a radio station. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman also told the Iranian news agency, Fars, that there had been no deal.”

Export Control, Extradition, France, Iran


Mac CORMAIC, RUADHÁN, ”Teacher charged with spying in Iran returns to France”, Irish Times, May 17, 2010. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0517/1224270548900.html

  1. ”Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last September that France should consider a prisoner swap if it wanted Ms Reiss to be freed, and her release coincided with two high-profile legal cases in Paris involving Iranians.”
  2. ”Just two weeks ago France infuriated Washington by refusing to extradite an Iranian engineer who was accused of illegally buying electronic equipment from US firms for military use.”

Export Control, Extradition, France, Iran


Tran, Marc, “Extradition of computer hacker Gary McKinnon put on hold: Theresa May agrees adjournment of judicial review to consider whether Gary McKinnon is fit to be extradited to US.” May 20, 2010. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/20/computer-hacker-gary-mckinnon-extradition-on-hold

  1. ”The judicial review was supposed to start next week and was virtually a last throw of the legal dice. Its adjournment allows May to cast a fresh eye on what has turned into a cause celebre, and to make a close examination of the extradition agreement between the US and the UK.”
  2. ”McKinnon’s supporters believe the new coalition government is sympathetic to their cause as David Cameron and Nick Clegg have in the past publicly criticised plans to extradite McKinnon. Last year, Cameron said any trial should take place in the UK. He said there was “a clear argument to be made that he should answer [any questions] in a British court’.”
  3. ”McKinnon admitted to hacking into 97 computers in the US defence department and Nasa from his London flat, and said he was looking for evidence of UFOs between 2001-2.”
  4. ”The controversial case has crossed the desks of six home secretaries.”

Extradition, U.K.


Lacey, Marc, “Jamaica Declares Emergency Amid UnrestNYT May 23, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/world/americas/24jamaica.html

  1. ”The Jamaican government declared a state of emergency in portions of Kingston, the capital, on Sunday after supporters of a gang leader who is wanted in the United States on gun and drug charges attacked three police stations in an attempt to pressure the government to let him remain free, officials said.”
  2. ”Mr. Coke is accused by federal prosecutors in the United States of running a major cocaine and marijuana trafficking operation from Tivoli Gardens, the neighborhood in Kingston that he controls. The State Department sought his extradition last August to New York, where he is accused in United States District Court of trafficking drugs and using the proceeds to buy guns in the United States and send them back to his allies in Jamaica.”
  3. ”After protests from the Obama administration and from opposition politicians, Mr. Golding agreed to comply with the extradition request. It was then that Mr. Coke’s neighbors in Tivoli Gardens, who say he keeps the peace in the neighborhood, began striking out at the government.”

Extradition, Jamaica


Neisloss, Elizabeth, “Singapore court says four suspects can be extradited to U.S.” February 10, 2012. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/10/world/asia/singapore-iran-extradition Last checked March 7, 2013.

  1. “A Singapore court ruled Friday that four people can be extradited to the United States to face conspiracy charges after electronic components from a U.S. company were smuggled to Iran and ended up in explosives in Iraq.”
  2. “U.S. authorities indicted them, as well as an Iranian citizen, on charges of funneling thousands of radio frequency modules from the United States to Iran.”
  3. “The United States alleges that 16 of the radio frequency modules were later found in improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq that had not detonated. The explosive devices are often the weapon of choice for militants in Iraq, who regularly used them to attack U.S. and coalition convoys.”
  4. “”This ruling reflects the strong spirit of cooperation between the United States and Singapore in combating transnational crime, including the illicit trade in arms and equipment that can pose significant threats to the United States and the international community,” (U.S. Ambassador to Singapore David Adelman) said in a statement.”

Export Control, Extradition