[Lauchenoiria]

Lauchenoirian Guardian

Lauchenoirian Parliament to debate amendment to extradition law
1st August 2019

The Federal Parliament of Lauchenoiria is set to debate an amendment to extradition law today which would end the ban on extraditing to the Matriarchy of Kerlile. The amendment, proposed by Pacifist Party MP and Minister for Culture and the Arts Samantha Clavell, seeks to introduce a measure where the President can authorise an extradition to Kerlile in ‘exceptional circumstances.’

The amendment is set to be highly controversial, and comes following a widespread debate surrounding the fate of Jasmine Eddington, a notorious Kerlian serial killer who escaped prison and fled across the border to Lauchenoiria 11 days ago. She is presently being held in immigration detention, however must be either extradited or released on Sunday, as under Lauchenoirian law no individual may be detained for more than 14 days for immigration reasons.

Supporters of the amendment include the Pacifist Party, Lauchenoiria First and the Feminist Party, who no longer have any representatives in the Federal Parliament. Clavell, who is the leader of the Pacifist Party has said she supports the amendment because “we must respect the laws of other countries, and we must not endanger our own population by allowing dangerous individuals to run loose in Lauchenoiria”.

However, the amendment is strongly opposed by the Green Party, along with the Left Alliance and the LDA – who have split from government policy on this issue. Green Party leader Lucie Scott, who spent the civil war as a political prisoner in the hands of the Chaher regime, opposes the policy as “Kerlile is responsible for widespread human rights abuses, and no prisoner in Kerlile is safe from these. While some people do deserve punishment, nobody deserves to be tortured, and that is what Kerlile will do to people if we return them.”

At present, Lauchenoiria cannot lawfully extradite any individual to any country which has capital punishment, however this amendment would also permit the President to bypass this regulation in certain circumstances. If the amendment passes, this will be cause for concern for many – including two Xiomeran journalists whose extradition the Huenyan Empire of Xiomera requested just over two weeks ago.

The result of the vote on the amendment, scheduled to take place this evening, is uncertain – with several parties giving their MPs a free vote, it is too close to call. The debate will be watched closely by both human rights groups, and individuals who could potentially be affected by the change. A result is expected by 9pm local time.