File
√20
12 November 1992
Miss Juliet Wheldon
RESTRICTED
Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers
9 Buckingham Gate London SW1E 6JP
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
London SW1A 2AH
нко 364/1
Den
Miss Wheldon,
I understand that the Attorney General is to meet the French Minister of Justice on 20 November. I am writing to ask if the Attorney would consider taking that opportunity to register British interest in the extradition of Dr Rais Bin Saniman from France to Hong Kong. The following sets out the reasons for our interest in the extradition proceedings and brief background to this case.
The background to Dr Saniman's case may already be familiar to
Both were you as it is connected with that of Lorrain Osman. directors of the same company and requests by the Hong Kong Government (HKG) for extradition in each case arise essentially from allegations of conspiracy to defraud and accepting corrupt payments on a massive scale. The HKG have been pursuing the case of Dr Saniman (a Malay national) through the French courts since 1986. The Chambre d'Accusation declined in November 1987 to make an order for Dr Saniman's return and released him. In 1990 the Hong Kong authorities made a second request and in October that year the Chambre d'Accusation recommended Dr Saniman's extradition. Dr Saniman's appeal against this decision to the Cour de Cassation was dismissed on 30 March 1991. The papers then went to the Ministry of Justice which decided, after almost a year's delay, to overturn the extradition decision claiming that some of the charges against Saniman were invalid under French extradition law and that others had been rejected by the Court in 1987. The Hong Kong Government, having won in the Courts, were understandably dismayed by this decision and dissatisfied with the cursory explanation given for it. Their lawyers in Paris told them that the only way in which the case could be reopened was through a procedure known as a "Gracious Request" ("Recours Gracieux") to the French government which could only be conveyed to the French by HMG on Hong Kong's behalf.
Given the importance of the case to Hong Kong and possible difficulties regarding Hong Kong's status in French eyes, FCO
wheldon. BRIEF.KR
RESTRICTED