Zimbabwe, China Renew Extradition Treaty
Zimbabwe and China have renewed their extradition treaty with effect from 23 December 2022.
This was announced by Zimbabwe’s Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Kazembe Kazembe.
According to Statutory Instrument 214 of 2022, Extradition Treaty with the People’s Republic of China, 2022, gazetted on 23 December, Kazembe repealed the original gazetting but replaced it with the identical renewed version.
Zimbabwe and China first signed the treaty on 5 September 2018.
Under the treaty, each country undertakes to extradite to the other those found in its territory and wanted by the other country for trial on criminal charges for a crime common to both countries or to serve their sentence if they have already been tried.
Neither country, however, has to extradite its own nationals, but in that case, it undertakes to handle a prosecution under its own law.
Extradition has to be for something that is a crime in both countries and carries a jail term in both countries of at least one year.
However, both countries have to refuse extradition for political offences, but terrorism offences and the like defined under international conventions are not regarded as political.
Neither country is allowed to extradite if they have substantial grounds for believing that the resulting prosecution is on account of the person’s race, sex, religion, nationality or political opinions, of if they fear the trial may be influenced by those factors.
Pure military offences are not grounds for extradition.| The Herald
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