A majority in the Dutch Lower House of Parliament wants the government to conclude an extradition treaty with Thailand. The vote comes a week after a Dutch national was sentenced to life imprisonment in Thailand on charges of drug trafficking. Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner, however, objects to the extradition with Thailand, which he says would imply approval of that country's tough justice system.

Tuesday's debate in the Hague parliament was prompted by case of Machiel Kuijt, a 35-year- old Dutchman, who has been jailed in Thailand for six years on charges of drug trafficking. Mr Kuijt has protested his innocence ever since his mid-1997 arrest at Bangkok airport, when Thai police found 748 grams of heroine on his former Thai girlfriend and concluded that Mr Kuijt therefore had to be involved in drug trafficking as well.

After serving five years in preliminary detention, Mr Kuijt was acquitted, but he landed immediately back in jail when the public prosecutor appealed the verdict. Last week, a Bangkok court found Mr Kuijt guilty on the same flimsy evidence that earlier produced his acquittal.

Different legal systems
The case highlights the problems involved in concluding an extradition treaty with Thailand, says Dutch Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner. Signing such an agreement would be tantamount to official recognition of the harsh Thai legal system.

In Mr Donner's view, the discrepancies with the Dutch system are simply too great. Complicity in drugs trafficking, for instance, carries a life prison sentence in Thailand, but only a few years in jail in the Netherlands.

The current dilemma is reminiscent of events in 2001, when the Moroccan government discovered that a number of Dutchmen released from Moroccan prisons were immediately given their freedom when they arrived in the Netherlands. The Rabat government was outraged and immediately terminated its extradition treaty with the Netherlands.

Dilemma
Two years ago, The Hague insisted that the Dutch legal system apply to its nationals returning home after being sentenced abroad. That would be impossible to maintain for suspects like Machiel Kuijt, who are given a life prison term on the basis of wafer-thin evidence that would never stand up in a Dutch court of law. But Mr Kuijt would have to go back behind bars on his return to the Netherlands, if only to appease the Thai authorities and keep the extradition treaty alive.

While acknowledging the magnitude of the problem, Dutch legal expert Theo de Roos says it should not be exaggerated. There's always room for compromise in negotiations preceding the extradition treaty, he points out. Prison sentences meted out abroad could for instance be lowered to accommodate Dutch legal practices.

Professor Roos believes the Thai authorities would also be interested in an extradition treaty with the Netherlands, even if it allows a certain measure of flexibility. "The Thai authorities will have a certain interest in letting European prisoners go, as long as they're able to tell them their punishment isn't over yet, that they still have to spend quite a few years behind bars in their home country."

by Nicky Jansen - reprint frmo Radio Netherlands