MALAYSIA, UKRAINE SIGN TREATY ON INTERNATIONAL TRANSFER OF PRISONERS

KUALA LUMPUR, April 12  -- Ukraine and Malaysia on Monday signed a Treaty on the International Transfer of Prisoners (ITOP), the first country with which Malaysia concluded the treaty.

Malaysia is also the first ASEAN country that Ukraine will have a bilateral ITOP programme, a statement sent to Bernama by the Ukraine Embassy in Malaysia, here, said.

According to the statement, the Treaty was signed by Home Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz and Ukrainian Ambassador to Malaysia Olexander Nechytaylo in Putrajaya.

 “The agreement completes formation of the comprehensive legal framework for efficient cooperation between the law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities of Ukraine and Malaysia.” the statement said.

In 2016, both countries had signed two other important bilateral agreements in the field of judicial and criminal matters, namely: the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, and the Treaty on Extradition.

According to Nechytaylo, “today's event would not be possible without dedicated work of the negotiating teams”.

“I would like to express sincere appreciation to the representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs of Malaysia, Prison Department, the Attorney General's Chambers and Wisma Putra (Foreign Ministry) for their efforts and commitment,” he said during the ceremony.

Ukraine is one of 66 countries that ratified the 1983 Convention on the Transfer of Convicted Persons. In addition, Ukraine has 13 bilateral international treaties on ITOP with other countries, including China and Iran.

-- BERNAMA