This piece first published by Ohmynews on 2006-09-25 18:28 (KST)
According to the Vietnamese Embassy in Brussels, on Sept. 20 the Belgian Minister of Justice refused to extradite the detained Vietnamese businessman Buu Huy to the U.S. at the request of the U.S. attorney's office for the northern district of Florida. Buu Huy has been detained in the Forest Detention Center in Belgium for 133 days at the request of the U.S. government, under the extradition pact between Belgium and the U.S. However, the the Belgian Supreme court ruled against the extradition request and submitted a final report to the Minister of Justice. Acting upon the report, the Belgium Minister of Justice signed a decision declaring Buu Huy innocent and setting him free.
As reported earlier by Ohmynews, the Belgian Supreme court on Aug. 18 held an open hearing on the case. The hearing lasted about 45 minutes with the help of two interpreters.
At the court, the U.S. side provided evidence accusing Huy of intentionally using incorrect labels on catfish products exported to the U.S. market to evade taxes.
Pascal Van Der Veeren, Huy's Belgian lawyer, made a strong case for dismissing the arrest and extradition request. He said that at present there is no anti-dumping law in effect in Belgium. Afiex had stopped all of its commercial transactions of catfish products with the U.S. before the American anti-dumping law came into effect on Jan. 31 2003. Moreover, Pascal stressed that there could not be misunderstanding about the name of the fish exported to the U.S. since all batches of catfish products that Afiex exported were labeled with the scientific names in Latin. He said that different countries name fish differently; therefore, the Latin name must be considered the official name of the product in settling disputes.
After the hearing, the Court spent a month deliberating. On Sept. 19, the court gathered again to issue the final report on the case. The court decided the evidence provided by the U.S. not convincing enough and refuse to extradite Huy as requested.
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and business circles in Vietnam applauded the court decision. In a recent press release, VASEP welcomed the decision and said, "The U.S. court's request would set a dangerous precedent, threatening international business people's safety when they do legal business abroad." VASEP also expressed its gratitude to the Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Fishery, news media, and Vietnamese and Belgian organizations who have supported the campaign that protects Buu Huy's legal rights and free trade.
Buu Huy will return to Vietnam as soon as he finishes some administrative procedures related to the release.
According to the Vietnamese Embassy in Brussels, on Sept. 20 the Belgian Minister of Justice refused to extradite the detained Vietnamese businessman Buu Huy to the U.S. at the request of the U.S. attorney's office for the northern district of Florida. Buu Huy has been detained in the Forest Detention Center in Belgium for 133 days at the request of the U.S. government, under the extradition pact between Belgium and the U.S. However, the the Belgian Supreme court ruled against the extradition request and submitted a final report to the Minister of Justice. Acting upon the report, the Belgium Minister of Justice signed a decision declaring Buu Huy innocent and setting him free.
As reported earlier by Ohmynews, the Belgian Supreme court on Aug. 18 held an open hearing on the case. The hearing lasted about 45 minutes with the help of two interpreters.
At the court, the U.S. side provided evidence accusing Huy of intentionally using incorrect labels on catfish products exported to the U.S. market to evade taxes.
Pascal Van Der Veeren, Huy's Belgian lawyer, made a strong case for dismissing the arrest and extradition request. He said that at present there is no anti-dumping law in effect in Belgium. Afiex had stopped all of its commercial transactions of catfish products with the U.S. before the American anti-dumping law came into effect on Jan. 31 2003. Moreover, Pascal stressed that there could not be misunderstanding about the name of the fish exported to the U.S. since all batches of catfish products that Afiex exported were labeled with the scientific names in Latin. He said that different countries name fish differently; therefore, the Latin name must be considered the official name of the product in settling disputes.
After the hearing, the Court spent a month deliberating. On Sept. 19, the court gathered again to issue the final report on the case. The court decided the evidence provided by the U.S. not convincing enough and refuse to extradite Huy as requested.
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and business circles in Vietnam applauded the court decision. In a recent press release, VASEP welcomed the decision and said, "The U.S. court's request would set a dangerous precedent, threatening international business people's safety when they do legal business abroad." VASEP also expressed its gratitude to the Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Fishery, news media, and Vietnamese and Belgian organizations who have supported the campaign that protects Buu Huy's legal rights and free trade.
Buu Huy will return to Vietnam as soon as he finishes some administrative procedures related to the release.
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