Final Word from Monday, February 15, 2016

Did Robert Pelikán violate the law by denying the extradition to the U.S. of Ali Fayad and then refusing to prosecute him in the CR, as Miroslav Kalousek claims? No, says Pelikán, because the U.S. didn't want Fayad to be prosecuted here, and the prosecution in Prague found no reason to launch its own proceedings. To understand what Pelikán is saying, you must refer to the bilateral extradition treaty. Under it, Pelikán's approval was needed for extradition because the crimes allegedly committed by Fayad aren't considered crimes in the CR if they're committed outside the CR. In other words, a foreigner conspiring in, say, Tokyo to kill a U.S. official isn't violating Czech law. The real question is why the U.S. didn't want Fayad prosecuted here for violating Czech laws. Perhaps because the U.S. wouldn't be able to use the threat of incarceration to coerce him into cooperation, which was probably the aim of the entire sting operation to begin with. [Czech Republic extraterritorial jurisdiction United States Fahad]