Orville Frank Mader, 54, was arrested after arriving at Vancouver International Airport on Thursday on charges he sexually abused a young boy in Thailand.
Thai police officials have told The Canadian Press that Mader, originally from Kitchener, Ont., would soon be returned overseas to face charges. However a spokesman at the Department of Justice in Vancouver said Canada has not yet received a formal extradition request.
When and if it does, lawyer Kevin McCullough speculated the Thais may not get Mader back as fast as they’d like.
McCullough represented Canadian Michael Karas, who was wanted in Thailand on charges he murdered his Thai wife.
McCullough argued in 2001, among other things, that his client should not be extradited because of what he said was the Thai government’s shoddy record on human rights.
McCullough lost and further court arguments followed, but McCullough said Friday that Karas is still in Canada.
More well-known are the repeated attempts by Thailand officials to extradite Rakesh Saxena, a fugitive Thai banker who has been in Vancouver fighting to stay in Canada since 1996.
He is accused of looting a Bangkok bank but has argued he will be killed if returned to his home country.
Saxena has mostly been under house arrest while he launches appeal after appeal of orders to deport him.
“Canada has never surrendered a soul to Thailand, in spite of people being extradited,” said McCullough. “I don’t think there’s an issue that Amnesty and other groups see them as having a problem.
“Although we here in Canada would hope that all countries would be as just as we are and hold justice as we do so importantly, it’s clear that Thailand has developed an international reputation as a place with some problems in the criminal justice system.”
Mader’s arrest came just one day after police in the Thai beach resort town of Pattaya issued a warrant for him.
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