Bulgaria Extradites Graft Suspect to China in EU First

A former Chinese official accused of taking bribes has been extradited from Bulgaria to China in the first such move by an EU member state, Beijing's top graft buster said, reported AFP

Yao Jinqi, 62, was sent back to China after it was established he would not face the death penalty, according to Sofia authorities.

"The law enforcement agencies of China and Bulgaria worked closely together and Yao Jinqi, a suspect who fled to Bulgaria, was extradited," China's National Supervision Commission said in a statement.

"It is also the first time that we have successfully extradited a bureaucrat suspected of work-related crimes from an EU member state." 

The ruling of the Sofia City Court obtained by AFP confirmed that during a court hearing on Monday Yao, a former official in eastern China's Zhejiang province, had agreed to be extradited. 

"It is categorically stated that for the crimes listed in the extradition request, the death penalty is not applicable," it added, contradicting a claim from Yao's Bulgarian lawyer Yanko Alexiev that his client could face the death penalty.

"In line with the legislation in the People's Republic of China, for such a crime he can be sentenced to jail for a period of three to ten years, or fined, or his property may be confiscated, while the death penalty is not applicable," the court said.

There were also no grounds to consider that he might face "violence, torture, or cruel, inhumane, humiliating punishment", it added.

China's official Xinhua news agency said Yao had fled the country in 2005 when he was accused of graft, living in central and South America and the Philippines before settling in Bulgaria where he was last month arrested after being...

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