Cambodia won't extradite Frenchman linked to Chinese political scandal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/22/cambodia-extradition-frenchman-china-scandal

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Cambodia has said it will not extradite a Frenchman it detained for possible involvement in a murder linked to one of China's biggest political scandals in years.

Cambodian authorities arrested the French national Patrick Devillers on 13 June over possible links to the death in China last November of the British businessman Neil Heywood.

Cambodian officials have said they detained Devillers at China's request but needed further evidence of wrongdoing to hand him over to another country.

The foreign minister, Hor Namhong, said on Thursday that Cambodia would not extradite the Frenchman to China or France.

"The decision has been made. We have decided to keep him here," Namhong said.

Devillers is still being held by Cambodian police, however, and Namhong said authorities were investigating the case. Devillers has not officially been charged with any crime.

The Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong reiterated Namhong's comments on Friday, confirming there were no extradition plans. He said Cambodia had so far obtained no evidence of crimes committed by Devillers.

Heywood had close ties to Bo Xilai, a Chinese political high-flier who was ousted as Communist party chief in Chongqing. Bo fell from power after his former police chief and longtime aide fled to a US consulate and divulged suspicions that Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, was involved in Heywood's death.

Bo was subsequently removed as Chongqing party secretary in March and then suspended as a politburo member amid speculation he tried to quash an investigation of his wife and a household employee over the Briton's death.

Though authorities in China initially said Heywood died from either excess drinking or a heart attack, they have since named Gu as a suspect. She faces criminal charges.

News reports have said that Devillers, an architect, was closely linked to Bo, Gu and Heywood, and had helped Bo rebuild the north-east Chinese city of Dalian when Bo was the city's mayor in the 1990s.

China has considerable influence in Cambodia, having provided millions of dollars in aid over the past decade.