The UK has been accused of failing in its judicial obligations after refusing to extradite a Briton wanted in Myanmar on suspicion of murdering a friend and colleague in his Yangon apartment.

The Home Office said it declined to extradite Harris Binotti, a Scottish teacher, because of the lack of an extradition treaty, adding that such a move would breach its human rights obligations.

Binotti, 27, is wanted in Myanmar on suspicion of murdering his fellow British national Gary Ferguson, 47, in 2016. He remains at large, with reports that he may be in Scotland.

Zar Li Aye, a national legal adviser for the International Commission of Jurists, said under the legal principle of aut dedere aut judicare (either extradite or prosecute), the obligation fell to British authorities to prosecute Binotti at home. By not prosecuting him, she argued, the UK was enforcing a jurisdictional gap.



“Why haven’t they opened a case in the UK? Do they not have a law that protects their citizens abroad? Do they not have a law that permits them to prosecute their own citizens for felonies committed on foreign soil? What is important for us right now is to hold them accountable after their decision to not extradite an accused murderer,” Zar Li Aye said.



“The fact that Harris Binotti is walking free in Scotland is a very worrying thing …The responsibility is now on [the UK]. If no action is taken, they will have failed as a justice system.”



The two men taught English at Horizon International school in Yangon. Ferguson, who was married and had a four-year-old son, had worked there for a year, and Binotti for three months.

Martin Ferguson, the victim’s brother, said in a Facebook group for supporters of the family: “We will never give up. No matter what.”

He said he was informed by email of the Home Office’s decision not to extradite Binotti.

“The request was refused due to there being no extradition treaty in place between the UK and Burma. In addition, to extradite Mr Binotti, the UK would violate several human rights obligations,” the email said.

Yangon police discovered Ferguson’s body with fatal head and chest wounds on 6 November 2016 after breaking the lock to Binotti’s apartment with the help of a neighbour.

According to the police statement, Binotti and Ferguson went to the apartment together after a night out. Neighbours said they heard fighting at midnight and 4am on 5 November, and a woman and two men screaming.

Though Binotti, from Dumfries, remains on Interpol’s red notice database, which allows law enforcement authorities beyond Myanmar to arrest him, there is little pressure from Myanmar to do so. Myo Thant Pe, the director general of the consular and legal affairs department under Myanmar’s ministry of foreign affairs, said: “Normally, if someone committed a crime, he should meet justice where he committed it … But for this case, I don’t know.”

Myanmar’s lack of urgency to extradite is compounded by pressure within the UK against extradition. After Myanmar filed its extradition request last year, Amnesty International reportedly urged the British government to deny it on the grounds that Myanmar still has the death penalty.

Additional reporting by Nay Paing