LONDON, Jan 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Britain labelled the U.S. refusal to send a diplomat’s wife back to Britain for trial, a “denial of justice” over the death of 19-year-old Briton in a car crash.
In a statement, British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, said, the government is disappointed about the U.S. decision, not to extradite the car crash suspect, Anne Sacoolas, to Britain.
Harry Dunn was killed when his motorbike and a car collided outside a U.S. military base in Northamptonshire on Aug 27, last year. The driver of the car, Sacoolas, returned to the United States, claiming diplomatic immunity and was subsequently charged by Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service with causing death by dangerous driving.
“We feel this amounts to a denial of justice, and we believe Anne Sacoolas should return to the UK. We are now urgently considering our options,” said Raab, adding that, he called the U.S. ambassador to Britain earlier, to express the government’s disappointment.
“I also explained that the UK would have acted differently if this had been a UK diplomat serving in the U.S.,” said Raab.
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, a spokeswoman for the Home Office said, “We are disappointed in this decision, which appears to be a denial of justice.”
In a phone call with their constituency MP, Andrea Leadsom, Dunn’s family were told of U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo’s decision, to refuse the British extradition request.
They are now calling for a meeting with British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, after dubbing the U.S. decision as “one of the darkest days” for the two countries’ close relations.
The case of Sacoolas is a thorn in the “special relationship” between the US and Britain, prompting debates over the limits of diplomatic immunity, in cases unrelated to national security, local media reported.
Despite the U.S. rejection, the Dunn family were remaining resolute that they will get justice one day.
“I can assure you that, despite the development, we know for sure that she will be coming back one day, there is no other way forward,” the family’s spokesman, Radd Seiger, told the BBC Radio 4.– NNN-AGENCIES
