Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) yesterday announced the completion of the process to extradite a Polish national back to his country, following the recent signing of a judicial cooperation agreement with Poland, while another similar pact with Slovakia was finalized on Tuesday.
Tsai and other Ministry of Justice officials said that the extradition was another successful case of judicial cooperation with a European country.
According to information from the ministry, Taiwan has made breakthroughs regarding new bilateral agreements on judicial matters, and thus far, has repatriated seven German nationals, one citizen from the UK and one from Denmark, as well as the Polish national, to serve their remaining prison terms in their home countries.
Photo copied by Wu Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
Ministry officials said it was not easy to complete the process for the latest repatriation, as the Taiwan-Poland Criminal Justice Cooperation Agreement required ratification from both sides, and only received the final approval from Polish President Andrzej Duda in January.
Prosecutor Lin Ming-yi (林明誼), who handled the case, told reporters that the Polish national was found guilty in a criminal case and was serving his term in a local prison.
“He did not have much to complain about regarding the prison conditions, as he was placed in a renovated facility specifically for foreign nationals,” Lin said, “The problem was that he does not speak much English, and was unable to communicate with other people. So he kept on expressing his wish to serve the remainder of his prison term back home in Poland.”
Lin said the judiciary made detailed arrangements to facilitate the extradition.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he and other ministry officials could not visit Poland, so they had to communicate via e-mail, Lin said.
The process and discussions helped the Polish government better understand that Taiwan has a good justice system, that both sides can trust each other and can deliver on the promises made, he said.
“It was not easy to make arrangements, because Taiwan in May had a surge in local [COVID-19] infections. It was our job to ensure that all prevention measures and safety guidelines had been followed,” Lin said.
Poland’s judiciary sent three police officers to Taiwan, who had to present negative COVID-19 tests from within three days of boarding their flight, he said.
The ministry fast-tracked their clearance at the airport, provided designated vehicles and drivers, and accommodated them at a quarantine hotel, Lin said, adding that they held meetings with Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials and Poland’s representative office, at which disease prevention measures were strictly adhered to.
Personnel from the Investigation Bureau delivered the Polish national to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, and officially handed him over to the three Polish police officers on May 17, as they boarded a flight to Poland, he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Tsai was joined by Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Slovak Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei Representative Martin Podstavek to announce the signing of the Arrangement between Taiwan and Slovakia on Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters — the nation’s sixth such mutual legal assistance pact with a European country.
The agreement took four years to complete.
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