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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

U.S. denies Britain's extradition request for diplomat's wife

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U.S. denies Britain's extradition request for diplomat's wife
U.S. denies Britain's extradition request for diplomat's wife

The United States has declined Britain's request for the extradition of a U.S. diplomat's wife who was involved in a car crash last year that killed a British teenager, the State Department said on Thursday.

Francesca Lynagh reports.

The U.S. is refusing to extradite a diplomat's wife to the UK, after she was involved in a car crash that killed British teenager Harry Dunn last year.

On Thursday (January 23), the State Department said at the time the accident occurred, and for the duration of her stay in the UK, Anne Sacoolas had immunity from criminal jurisdiction.

The statement said granting the extradition request ''would render the invocation of diplomatic immunity a practical nullity and would set an extraordinarily troubling precedent.'' Dunn's family has said Sacoolas was driving on the wrong side of the road when she hit the 19-year-old on his motorbike near an air force base in central England.

Sacoolas left Britain shortly after the accident...and her lawyer said she would not voluntarily return to possibly face jail.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said Sacoolas was wrong to use diplomatic immunity to leave Britain and has urged U.S. President Donald Trump to reconsider the U.S. position.

Dunn's parents met Trump at the White House in October.

Trump hoped to persuade them meet to Sacoolas, who was in the building at the same time, but they declined.

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