The United States has dismissed a formal request from Britain for the extradition of an American woman charged with killing a teen motorcyclist, dubbing it “highly inappropriate.”
“Following the Crown Prosecution Service’s charging decision, the Home Office has sent the extradition request to the United states for Anne Sacoolas on charges of causing death by dangerous driving,” a U.K. Home Office spokesman said in a statement to Reuters on Friday.
Harry Dunn, 19, in August was riding his motorcycle near a military base in Central England when he was fatally struck by Sacoolas, who was allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road at the time of the deadly incident
Sacoolas’ husband, a U.S. diplomat, was stationed on the base nearby the crash. In its aftermath, the 42-year-old suspect fled to the United States and claimed diplomatic immunity, which has sparked a global controversy.
The U.S. State Department in a statement Friday rebuffed the extradition request.
“The United States has been clear that, at the time the accident occurred, and for the duration of her stay in the U.K., the driver in this case had status that conferred diplomatic immunities,” it reads.
“The use of an extradition treaty to attempt to return the spouse of a former diplomat by force would establish an extraordinarily troubling precedent.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously said Sacoolas was wrong to use diplomatic immunity and flee the country and urged President Trump to reconsider the United State’s position on the matter.
___
© 2020 New York Daily News
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
