Question NW2126 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
14 July 2022 - NW2126
Breytenbach, Adv G to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
What progress has been made with the request for extradition of the implicated members of the Gupta family from the United Arab Emirates; (2) whether the Red Notice has been implemented; if not, why not; if so, (3) whether he has found that it is of assistance in the extradition process; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
(1) The National Prosecuting Authority has prepared and stands ready to submit the extradition requests to the Director-General of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in his capacity as the Central Authority, so that same can be transmitted to the country or countries where the implicated members of the Gupta family are ultimately located. In order for the National Prosecuting Authority to finalize and submit the requests to the Central Authority, the exact whereabouts of these implicated members have to be first established. The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol): National Central Bureau in Pretoria is engaging with their counterparts in foreign countries to obtain the whereabouts of the implicated members of the Gupta family.
(2) The Red Notices have been issued on 5 July 2021, and have been circulated on the Interpol system. This is to ensure that should any of the implicated members of the Gupta family be found within the jurisdiction of an Interpol Member State, they can be arrested provisionally to allow for the extradition request to be transmitted urgently to that particular country.
(3) A Red Notice is a request, published by Interpol at the request of a member country, to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action. It is circulated by Interpol which is the largest police organisation in the world, consisting of 195 member countries. These countries work together to share data related to police investigations. The issuing of a Red Notice assists the requesting country to cast the net wider in the search for the implicated person/s, by having the 194 members of Interpol assist in searching and locating the wanted individual/s. It also flags the wanted individuals, and should they attempt to cross an international border, their location will be known to law enforcement agencies. Therefore, a Red Notice is of great importance and assistance in the extradition process.