Extradition pact with Lisbon soon: no death, no life term either

A year after Mumbai blast accused Abu Salem was extradited from Lisbon after lengthy legal proceedings for eight criminal charges, India and Portugal are set to ink a formal extradition treaty.

A year after Mumbai blast accused Abu Salem was extradited from Lisbon after lengthy legal proceedings for eight criminal charges, India and Portugal are set to ink a formal extradition treaty.

This follows New Delhi’s acceptance of two crucial provisions on the proposed treaty — that extradited persons will neither be given the death penalty or life imprisonment by Indian courts. These are conditions that the Indian Government had accepted when Salem was extradited on November 11, 2005 despite the absence of a formal treaty.

The treaty is expected to be signed during the forthcoming week-long visit of Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva to New Delhi beginning January 10. Delhi and Lisbon have been actively working on the fine print of the extradition treaty these past few months and a high-level team headed by the Director General of the Department of Justice is presently in New Delhi to hold consultations with Indian officials on the final draft.

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Diplomatic sources in Lisbon told The Indian Express that while India was satisfied with the draft prepared by Lisbon, there were three particular clauses which will be finalized by the two sides prior to the Portuguese President’s arrival.

The three clauses (Articles 4,8 and 10) deal with grounds for refusal to extradite, extradition procedure and provisional arrest.

Officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Home and the Central Bureau of Investigation will be part of the last-minute consultations.

Indian Ambassador in Lisbon Nilima Mitra confirmed that the signing of the extradition treaty was on the cards during the forthcoming visit of the Portuguese head of State.

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“I am very optimistic that the differences will be ironed out and the treaty signed during the visit,” she told The Indian Express.

“Portugal has soft immigration laws and there is an apprehension of it being used again as a landing base by illegals just as Abu Salem has done.”

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