Thai Woman’s Challenge to Extradition Rejected by Ninth Circuit

A woman facing fraud charges in the Kingdom of Thailand lost an appeal seeking to reopen habeas corpus proceedings challenging her extradition, with the Ninth Circuit ruling the Secretary of State properly considered her risk of facing torture there.

The government relied on a declaration prepared by an attorney at the Office of the Legal Adviser for the Department of State stating that the decision to surrender Sumontinee Sridej to Thailand complied with the Convention Against Torture and its implementing regulations.

That was sufficient to show that the secretary considered whether it was more likely than not that Sridej, a ...