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Prague – The Czech Republic annually transfers between two to three hundred people to European Union member countries based on the European arrest warrant. The transfer process takes an average of 25 to 30 days, but often less. Conversely, the Czech Republic has received around three to four hundred wanted persons annually in recent years based on the euro warrant, according to data provided by the Ministry of Justice to CTK. According to police presidium spokesman David Schön, the European arrest warrant is the most effective and fastest way to bring fugitives to court or prison.
Police officers most often detain and then hand over Slovaks on Czech territory. From 2008 to the end of last year, there were over 1,350, followed by Czechs. The introduction of the European arrest warrant broke the rule of not extraditing one’s own citizens. The Czech Republic handed over 1,038 of them. Romanians, Germans, and Bulgarians are also among those frequently transferred.
Last year, police officers from European Union member countries detained and sent nearly 470 wanted people to the Czech Republic based on a euro warrant. Conversely, Czech police officers tracked down 255 persons based on the European arrest warrant who were being sought in one of the EU states, according to data from the Ministry of Justice. In more than 230 cases, the Czech Republic complied with the request for transfer.
The so-called euro warrant was introduced in the European Union in response to the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. It replaced the surrender procedure based on agreements between individual states. The European arrest warrant applies to serious offenses, such as suspicion of terrorism, child sexual abuse, murder, racism, or arms or drug trafficking. It has been in operation in the Czech Republic since November 1, 2004. (October 27)