territory is at the discretion of the Home Secretary or
the appropriate Governor.
Before ordering the surrender
In
of the fugitive the Home Secretary, or Governor, is
responsible for satisfying himself that the standards of
justice in the requesting State are not oppressive.
addition, in the case of a requesting State which retains
the death penalty, it is our normal practice to seek an
assurance or undertaking that, should the offender be
returned and convicted, the death sentence, if imposed,
would not be carried out; or if such an assurance cannot
be given that a recommendation would be made in the appropriate
quarters against the imposition or execution of the death
penalty.
5.
Following Hong Kong's telegram number 1311 there was
an initial exchange of telegrams with Monrovia and Hong Kong
which established that present standards of justice in
Liberia are generally satisfactory and that the Post did
not believe that the death sentence, although mandatory
for murder, would be carried out.
6. Hong Kong later expressed disquiet about the Liberian
authorities handling of a case similar to Lam's which
occurred in 1979 and we therefore asked Monrovia to raise
formally with the Liberian authorities the matter of Lam's
likely sentence should he be surrendered and convicted
and asked them to obtain certain assurances from the local
authorities about the conduct of any trial.
7.
Monrovia's telegram no 113 of 20 December reports
the outcome of their approaches: In the view of the
Home Office, the information and assurances contained
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