LONDON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- A U.S. lawyer told the London Court of Appeals the United States sanctions the kidnapping of foreign citizens suspected of violating its laws.
Alun Jones, representing the U.S. government in a case involving bank fraud and tax evasion before the British appellate court, said the U.S. Supreme Court sanctions the detention of foreign citizens in foreign countries with the aim of bringing them before U.S. courts for prosecution for violating U.S. law, said the Sunday Times of London.
The case concerns Stanley Tollman, a former director of the Chelsea soccer team, and his wife Beatrice, who are wanted in the United States for bank fraud and tax evasion. The couple is fighting extradition to the United States.
"If you kidnap a person outside the United States and you bring him there, the court has no jurisdiction to refuse -- it goes back to bounty-hunting days in the 1860s," Jones said. "That is United States' law."
These statements raised the ire of Patrick Mercer, a Tory member of Parliament. "The very idea of kidnapping is repugnant to us and we must handle these cases with extreme caution and a thorough understanding of the implications in American law," Mercer said.
