Extradition Crisis

The Extradition Crisis was an incident resulting from an abnormally high number of extradition requests submitted to a number of democracies by autocratic states between the 17th July and 19th August 2019; disproportionately affecting Lauchenoiria. The crisis had a number of effects, including tensions leading to the August 2019 Trade War, as well as reducing the Sanctarian presence in Lauchenoiria close to the Kerlian border.

Requests

Xiomeran Underground News

On the 17th July 2019, Xiomera submitted extradition requests for a number of journalists with the Xiomeran Underground News (XUN), a dissident media operation outlawed in Xiomera. These included requests sent to Laeral, Lauchenoiria and Zamastan, for a total of 11 Xiomeran citizens. XUN quickly responded, claiming they were not afraid of the threat of extradition. Zamastan did not immediately respond, but activists in the country had been calling for a response to Xiomeran media censorship for weeks.

Lauchenoiria, on the other hand, immediately rejected the request based on domestic laws prohibiting the extradition of individuals to countries using capital punishment. Laeral also rejected the request. After the rejections, Xiomeran Emperor Topilpopoca withdrew the requests, which had been issued by Secretary of Justice Cētlalhui - who was removed from his position due to the failure of the requests.

Ten days later, on the 30th July, Zamastan finally responded to the request, granting the journalists asylum and "exceptional migration status".

On the 8th August, the XUN (now renamed the Huenyan News Network (HNN)) warrants became an issue again in Lauchenoiria when the two HNN journalists in Lauchenoiria attacked the Xiomeran embassy in Buttercity - called a terrorist attack by Xiomera. President Alex Marwick's new Extradition Taskforce - set up after the Bloch request by Shuell (below) - then announced they would be taking forward the cases of the two Xiomerans, Tlixō and Xōnē, as well as Bloch.

The following day, the taskforce quickly decided to drop the cases of Tlixō and Xōnē; refusing the extradition request a second time. This decision was accepted by the Xiomeran government.

Jasmine Eddington

On the 21st July, Kerlile requested the extradition of convicted serial killer Jasmine Eddington from Lauchenoiria, after Eddington escaped from prison and crossed the border. Lauchenoiria automatically rejected the request, once again on the basis of the domestic ban on extradition to countries using capital punishment. Lauchenoirian Foreign Secretary Sandra Pavía was widely criticised for the rejection both domestically and by Sanctaria and Xiomera.

While Eddington was incarcerated in Lauchenoiria on immigration charges, Kerlile continued to urge Lauchenoiria to change their mind over the request. Families of Eddington's victims wrote to Lauchenoiria and Councillor Jennifer Hale called Prime Minister Josephine Alvarez (her legally-wedded wife), asking her to return Eddington.

The day after the letters and phone call, the Federal Parliament of Lauchenoiria debated and passed an amendment to Lauchenoirian extradition law, allowing for the extradition of individuals to countries actively using capital punishment if the individual is over 21, committed a violent crime, and Lauchenoiria receives assurances the individual will not be executed. The amendment allowed the President of Lauchenoiria, then Alex Marwick, to make an executive decision on extraditions in such circumstances. Four days later, Marwick indeed announced his intention to extradite Eddington, however she was permitted to appeal the decision.

On August 14th, Eddington's appeal was announced to be successful - prompting sharp criticism from Kerlile and Sanctaria, who in turn requested the extradition of Eddington to Sanctaria instead, as one of her victims had been a Sanctarian citizen. The Sanctarian request was quickly accepted.

Eddington was placed on a jet to Sanctaria; however the plane carrying Eddington disappeared over the Gregory Mountains, causing concern back in Lauchenoiria. The wreckage of Eddington's plane was found on August 19th, with no survivors. It later transpired that the crash was not an accident and was instead caused by First Officer Maria Cummings, who deliberately downed the plane.

Peter Bloch

On August 6, a further extradition request was submitted to Lauchenoiria, this time by Shuell. This third request was for a Shuellian aid worker, Peter Bloch, who attempted to claim asylum in Lauchenoiria due to the autocratic nature of Shuell's government. The following day, Lauchenoiria rejected Bloch's asylum claim - sparking suspicion about undue Shuellian influence on Lauchenoirian policy.

On August 8, Marwick announced his intention to extradite Peter Bloch, earning sharp criticism from multiple directions; including domestically and by Sanctaria. Bloch appealed the decision, with the appeal being heard in court the following day. The appeal was rejected; leading to mass protests in Buttercity over the decision. This also resulted in Sanctaria announcing that they would be reducing their presence in Lauchenoiria, especially near the Kerlian border. Green leader Lucie Scott also called for an investigation into the extradition taskforce.