Vietnamese citizen arrested by France at the request of Belgium

Pham Thi Tuyet Mai was arrested by French border police on December 18, 2018 at Charles de Gaulle airport under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW). Mai's arrest was to serve a four-year prison sentence for "illegal trafficking of drugs and narcotics" between October 1, 2010 and May 10, 2011, announced by the Antwerp Court of Justice, Belgium on May 8, 2013, according to a statement from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On December 19, 2018, the Paris Court of Appeal granted Mai bail and applied a number of judicial control measures such as: having to temporarily reside at the designated place, not being allowed to leave the French territory, surrendering all personal documents to the court, and having the obligation to be present when summoned for the next court sessions.

Talk toVnExpressMai, 34, denied the charges of drug trafficking and possession, and asserted that she had sufficient evidence of European immigration documents and a valid passport to prove her innocence.

According to Mai, she studied and worked in Amsterdam, Netherlands, before returning to Vietnam to live in March 2010 and only returned to Europe once for work in November 2011. She was arrested by French police while she and her boyfriend were connecting flights from Vietnam to Malta to visit his family.

"The case in Belgium occurred between October 2010 and May 2011. I could not have committed any crime during this period in Belgium because I did not have a visa to travel from Vietnam to Europe. My passport also does not have any entry or exit stamps to Europe before, during or after this period," she said. In addition, Mai said she also had documents certifying her work for a company in Vietnam from May 2010 to May 2012. Mai suspects that her personal information was stolen and used for malicious purposes.

Mai and her boyfriend are currently staying in a hotel in Paris while they wait for the next trial scheduled for early February, with increasingly limited financial resources. She said she has hired a lawyer in Belgium to represent her in court, but is very confused because she does not know when the case will end and she can return to Vietnam.

The Vietnamese Embassy in France also said that Vatier Law Office in Paris has supported Mai at the request of the Embassy and Mai herself.

According to European Union regulations, within a maximum of 60 days from the date of arrest, the arresting country, in this case France, initiates judicial procedures to transfer the arrested person to the issuing country, in this case Belgium. If she voluntarily surrenders, Mai will be transferred to Belgium within 10 days of her arrest. If she does not voluntarily surrender, she will be transferred to Belgium 10 days after the French judicial authority has decided to transfer the arrested person under a European Arrest Warrant.

Also according to EU regulations, the decision to approve the execution of an arrest warrant and the transfer of the arrested person is under the jurisdiction of the judicial authority, which is completely independent and not subject to political interference. France only has the right to refuse to transfer Mai to Belgium in certain cases. One is that the accused has been tried for the same crime in France. Two is that the accused is a minor or has not reached the age of serving a criminal sentence in France. Three is that the crime or the accused is entitled to amnesty for this crime in France.

Hanh Pham - Anh Ngoc