UNITED STATES. MAN CAN BE EXTRADITED TO FACE THAI DEATH PENALTY

a US federal appeals court declined to block the extradition to Thailand of Suwit Prasoprat, an American who faced the death penalty there for drug smuggling.
The United States started legal proceedings against Prasoprat, an American citizen, in 2001 on behalf of Thai authorities after a drug enforcement informer said he was involved in smuggling heroin between Bangkok and Los Angeles. Prasoprat fought the extradition, saying among other things that the move should be denied on humanitarian grounds because he faced the death penalty. A three-judge panel of the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled however that an extradition treaty with Thailand gave the US executive branch the authority to act in such cases.
"When the offence for which extradition is sought is punishable by death, the question of whether to refuse extradition on that basis is within the authority of the executive branch, not the judicial branch," wrote Judge Wallace Tashima for the court.
"It is the role of the secretary of state, not the courts, to determine whether extradition should be denied on humanitarian grounds."