Sevan Extradition from Cyprus

Following on yesterday’s news that Benon Sevan would likely be facing charges for illegal kickbacks, we noted that Mr. Sevan, as a citizen of Cyprus, would likely not be extradited because, under the extradition treaty, Cyprus is not obligated to extradite its own citizens.

Reuters is reporting that Cyprus is indeed “unlikely to extradite the Cypriot former head of the U.N. oil-for-food programme.” Michele Kambas, Cyprus Unlikely to Extradite Oil-for-Food Official, Reuters, Aug. 10, 2005, available here. According to the article, it is unknown whether Mr. Sevan would willingly return to the United States, and when asked how authorities would respond to an extradition request, a senior Cypriot official stated “There is a constitutional prohibition on extraditing one of our nationals to another jurisdiction.” Id. Therefore, a Cypriot court could likely cite the constitution to bar the extradition of Mr. Sevan. Id.

At the moment, while Mr. Sevan was known to be in Cyprus as recently as Saturday, August 6, Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou told Reuters “I am not even aware of him being here.”