Cambodia, Russia sign extradition treaty

Cambodia and Russia on Wednesday signed an extradition treaty in a bid to prevent cross-border crimes and human trafficking.



Justice Ministry spokesperson Kim Santepheap told Khmer Times yesterday that the deal was signed when Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana visited Moscow earlier this week to meet his Russian counterpart Alexander Konovalov.



Both countries discussed criminal extradition, prisoner exchanges as well as mutual assistance on criminal matters.



“So far, both leaders have reached an agreement and signed the agreement on extradition, but the other two matters are still in the midst of negotiation,” Mr. Santepheap said.



“For example, if any Russian citizens have committed a crime in his or her country and they flee to Cambodia, Cambodia then has the obligation to extradite them following a request by Russian authorities,” he explained.



The treaty paves the way for several Russian nationals to be extradited from Cambodia after skirting similar extraditions in the past on the basis of there not being a formal extradition treaty.



According to Russia’s Justice Ministry website, the deal was “aimed at forming the legal framework of the Russian-Cambodian cooperation in the field of extradition.”



Political analyst Sok Touch lauded the move, saying it would improve diplomatic ties between the two nations.



“It is good that both countries decided to ink a deal on criminal extradition,” he said.



Russia has in the past attempted to extradite several of its citizens from Cambodia with little success.



One such instance involved fugitive Sergei Polonsky, who had been living comfortably in Preah Sihanouk province’s Sihanoukville after being charged by Russia’s courts with embezzling millions of dollars from investors in two residential development projects in Moscow.



Mr. Polonsky was subsequently placed on Interpol’s most-wanted list.



The Supreme Court in April 2014 also ruled not to have Mr. Polonsky, reportedly once one of the richest people in Russia, extradited due to the lack of a formal extradition treaty.



The Russian tycoon has also been slapped with several criminal charges locally, one of which involved him threatening six boatmen at knifepoint before forcing them to jump overboard near Mr. Polonsky’s private island off the coast of Sihanoukville.



Also in the coastal city, Russian national Oleg Tikhanov is also wanted in Russia, as listed by Interpol, in relation to “illegal possession of explosives” which were linked to organized crime.



It remains unclear, however, if Russia ever requested Mr. Tikhanov’s extradition or if the businessman remains in Cambodia.



The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) in a 2012 report also pointed out the many shortcomings of Cambodia’s extradition laws, which it said were unclear and wrought with inconsistencies, by highlighting the case of pedophile Alexander Trofimov.



The CCHR report said Mr. Trofimov’s case exemplified those shortcomings as he was allowed to remain in Cambodia despite repeated requests from Russia to have him extradited on charges of sexually abusing children.



After serving only four years of his 17-year sentence for sexually assaulting at least 15 girls while living as a fugitive in Sihanoukville, he was granted a royal pardon in 2011 and disappeared from the public’s eye.



Although he was eventually deported in 2012, the US embassy had said the year prior that Cambodia’s refusal to immediately extradite a known sexual predator was a “threat” to the kingdom’s reputation.



Russian media reported that in 2014 he was sentenced to 11 years in prison on 20 counts of rape and sexual assault of minors committed between 2003 and 2004 in Moscow.