UK ISSUES STATEMENT ON ITS EXTRADITION POLICY

KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 (Bernama) -- The British High Commission in Malaysia
said Wednesday that it is the United Kingdom (UK) government's policy neither to
confirm nor deny specific extradition requests.

"By extension, we are not prepared to discuss the contents of any exchanges
with another government's agencies of an individual case," it said in a
statement here.

The High Commission, which did not specifically mention any country or
case, said an extradition request from one Commonwealth country to another was
governed by the London Scheme for Extradition within the Commonwealth.

"This contains a Dual Criminality Rule. A person sought will only be
extradited for an extradition offence," it said.

"For the purpose of this scheme, an extradition offence is an offence
however described which is punishable in the requesting and requested country by
imprisonment for two years or a greater penalty," the High Commission added.

The issue of extradition was raised in the past few days in regards to the
case involving fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein had said that each country had its own
stand on such matters and that Malaysia had to respect the stand taken by the
country concerned, and as such, consider other options in trying to resolve the
case.

"I have to check with the UK authorities. We have been doing this for a long
time...even the extradition, you need the cooperation of that party concerned,
this is being handled the best way we can," he had said Tuesday.

Raja Petra, 59, fled the country after two arrest warrants were issued
against him for failing to attend court for his sedition trial in April and May
last year and surfaced last month in London
-- BERNAMA