MEPs call on 10 EU Member States to suspend extradition treaties with the PRC

Today, a cross-party group of European Parliamentarians led by Engin Eroglu MEP have written to the ten EU Member States that still have active extradition treaties with the People’s Republic of China asking for them to urgently review and suspend the treaties.

The letter states that in light of the National Security Law and the continued crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, MEPs ‘hope to see a new objective assessment of the situation and hope to have EU Member States consider to suspend extradition treaties with the People’s Republic of China’.

It goes onto cite recent extradition cases ‘in Sweden, Poland, and Spain have shown a dangerous trend, in which the Chinese government curbs the provisions in place to stop political persecutions by demanding extradition for financial crimes, accusing activists and dissidents of fraud.'

The MEPs state that ‘the continuous employment of new tactics to unlawfully persecute pro- democratic leaders and activist, while undermining European efforts to protect them, as well as the sanctions imposed against European representatives and institutions by the Chinese Communist Party proves the more the urgency of our call.’

It concludes that EU Member States should suspend extradition with the PRC ‘not only to uphold our shared European values, but also to express solidarity with Hong Kongers, Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other Chinese human rights activists who have made Europe their home.’

The full letter can be found here: https://twitter.com/EnginEroglu_FW/status/1387355184364498950?s=20