Lebanese and Brazilian negotiators concluded two draft...

Lebanese and Brazilian negotiators concluded two draft agreements aimed to facilitate the extradition of fugitives and improve judicial co-operation between the two countries. Lebanese State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum identified capital punishment - which is legal in Lebanon, but not in Brazil - as a key point on which the two sides initially differed. Brazil said it would not extradite any convict sentenced to death - or suspected criminal facing capital punishment - unless it obtained assurances from the Lebanese government that the sentence would not be carried out. "Also, the deal bans extradition of suspects wanted for political crimes, unless the crime involves the murder of the president, the prime minister or any member of their immediate families," Addoum explained, indirectly denying that one of the main aims of the extradition treaty was to bring home for trial Lebanese suspected of war crimes during the civil strife. The state prosecutor also refuted media reports that Lebanon would seek the extradition of Mohammed Suheil Yamout, the former Mount Lebanon governor who is suspected of embezzling public funds and who holds Brazilian citizenship. "This treaty," Addoum said, "is not aimed at any individual in particular." Brazil's chief negotiator and head of the judicial and consular department at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, Lucio Pires de Amorim, explained that Brazil's judicial system strictly prohibits the extradition of its own citizens. "There are only two exceptions to this rule - suspects in drug trafficking cases and those who have committed common crimes before they were naturalized," Amorim said. However, this does not give suspects impunity, he said. Brazilians sought for offenses committed abroad may be tried at home if judicial authorities in Brazil so choose. The Supreme Court alone can decide whether the case is valid or not. Amorim said that Brazil's Supreme Court also was the final arbiter in extradition cases, and was known to have ruled in favour of some deportations requested by countries that have no extradition treaties.