Posts
The chances of any nation being able to extradite the Duchess of York are so slim as to be incalculable.
The Turkish government is furious and has approached the Home office in London with the paperwork for deporting the Duchess because whilst on a recent visit with her daughter she visited orphanages in Turkey and recorded a television program about the dire state of affairs that she found.
As reported in The Telegraph: - Duchess of York wanted for extradition by Turkish police
The Duchess filmed inside the Saray institution near Ankara, where more than 700 disabled children are housed.
She and the team from ITV1's Tonight programme found children tied to their beds or left in cots all day without being taken out to be fed.
One child, who was not allowed outside, was discovered crawling along the corridor to feel the sun on his face.
Princess Eugenie cried after visiting one centre which houses 60 disabled children - many abandoned by their parents.
Turkish privacy laws prohibit this behaviour and a 2005 amendment means that the prison sentence is fifty percent higher if breaches of their privacy laws are recorded for publication.
As reported in The Sun: - Turks ask Brit cops to quiz Fergie
Turkey's privacy laws have become far stricter in recent years.
And punishments are especially harsh for journalists and film-makers because a 2005 law states jail sentences must be increased by 50 per cent if the offence was committed for the purposes of publication.
A journalist who violates "rights to privacy of communications" - for example by secretly recording a conversation - faces up to four-and-a-half years. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned appalling conditions in Turkish jails.
Another source added: "If, following a police investigation, charges are laid in Turkey, the Duchess could be arrested and extradited to appear in court in Turkey. That is how international law works."
Fergie's daughters Beatrice and Eugenie are fifth and sixth in line to the British throne - and any attempt to extradite her would be unprecedented.
There does not seem to be any doubt that the Duchess did break Turkish law and with the Turkish government claiming that the reason for the recording is to tarnish the image of Turkey and reduce their chances of being accepted into the European Union for anyone else it would be time to worry.
The Duchess has been ill advised in this course of action and either she or the production company should certainly have sought advice with regard to Turkish law before embarking upon this project for television. Not to have done so shows a lack of respect and contempt towards Turkey. If the idea was for ‘secret’ filming then a definite lack of judgement was shown in the selection of presenters.
I personally believe that Fergie can sleep peacefully. Even under this Labour administration there can be no appetite for the blast of publicity that would ensue from the deportation of even an ex member of the royal household and her daughter who when all is said and done remains fifth in line to the throne.
