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SE Asian law officials meet to sign treaty on transnational crime
Kuala Lumpur, June 30: Attorney generals and law ministers from Southeast Asia met today to craft a treaty aimed at reducing the legal red tape that hinders the fight against terrorism and transnational crimes such as drug trafficking and money laundering.
Kuala Lumpur, June 30: Attorney generals and law ministers from Southeast Asia met today to craft a treaty aimed at reducing the legal red tape that hinders the fight against terrorism and transnational crimes such as drug trafficking and money laundering.
The proposed agreement would provide a legal framework for the 10 members of the association of Southeast Asian nations to obtain evidence from each other, arrange for witnesses to travel and provide testimony, freeze foreign assets of suspects and conduct searches and seizures, officials say.
But the treaty will not touch on extradition, which Malaysian officials say is covered by bilateral pacts and existing laws in some countries.
Malaysia, which prepared the draft of the treaty, hopes it will be adopted by ASEAN when the three-day attorney generals' meeting at a resort in Malaysia's remote Sabah state on Borneo Island concludes on Wednesday.
Regional terrorism is among southeast Asia's biggest challenges. Since late 2001, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand have all arrested dozens of suspected Islamic militants, mostly alleged members of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah.
The militant Islamic group is blamed for the October 12 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly western tourists, and a series of church bombings in Indonesia in 2000. The network is also accused of plotting to blow up the us embassy, a US naval base and other western targets in Singapore.
Bureau Report
But the treaty will not touch on extradition, which Malaysian officials say is covered by bilateral pacts and existing laws in some countries.
Malaysia, which prepared the draft of the treaty, hopes it will be adopted by ASEAN when the three-day attorney generals' meeting at a resort in Malaysia's remote Sabah state on Borneo Island concludes on Wednesday.
Regional terrorism is among southeast Asia's biggest challenges. Since late 2001, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand have all arrested dozens of suspected Islamic militants, mostly alleged members of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah.
The militant Islamic group is blamed for the October 12 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly western tourists, and a series of church bombings in Indonesia in 2000. The network is also accused of plotting to blow up the us embassy, a US naval base and other western targets in Singapore.
Bureau Report