June 26, 2024
BANGKOK – Moscow is making a concerted effort to get into an extradition deal with Thailand in response to an order from President Vladimir Putin, state-controlled Russian media outlet RT reported on Monday.
The two governments have been negotiating an extradition deal for several years and eventually resolved to sign a two-year cooperation program in March 2023.
Russia’s prosecutor-general Igor Krasnov, who was in Bangkok recently, claimed that the treaty aims to help both countries combat threats from transnational organised crimes, like cybercrime, cryptocurrency scams, extremism and terrorism.
Thai media, however, noted that Krasnov’s visit and the signing of the draft coincided with the arrival of several thousands of Russians fleeing their country to avoid conscription for the war with Ukraine.
It is also to be noted, that all seven members of a Russian-Belarusian rock band Bi-2 were arrested in January this year. The band’s frontman Yegor Bortnik was listed as a “foreign agent” by Moscow after the band openly expressed its anti-war stance.
Though neither the band nor the Royal Thai Police issued a comment on the arrest, local tourist authorities claimed the musicians had been arrested for performing in Phuket without a work permit. The musicians were eventually deported to Israel.