Hundreds of Britons arrested without warrants

[Guest guest]

These people were arrested and held in prison, sometimes for weeks, at the demand of foreign courts. No warrants, not always even told why, just dragged away. I wonder if they US has signed on to such a treaty yet? I know we are in the world court and I'm waiting for the UN to start calling for US soldiers because of Wikileaks. Given the hate crimes and other laws in the EU, I wonder if Americans couldn't be called up to Euro courts?

Quote:

In total 1,032 people – almost three a day – were detained and extradited by British police on the orders of European prosecutors in the 12 months to April, up from 683 in 2008-09. The Home Office expects a further 70 per cent rise, to 1,700 cases, next year.

The increase will fuel growing political concern about the "unfair" and "disproportionate" nature of the warrants, which British courts have little power to challenge.

It comes as the case of Tappin, a suburban golf club captain accused of arms smuggling, sparked separate controversy about "unbalanced" extradition arrangements with the US.

Blunkett, the former home secretary who introduced the European warrants, admitted he had been "insufficiently sensitive" about how they could be "overused". , his former Tory shadow, last night called for a "review and reform" of the extradition system.

The number of European Arrest Warrant detentions in Britain has risen 43-fold since 2004, when there were only 24 across the year. Many of those detained are accused of relatively minor crimes such as possessing cannabis or leaving petrol stations without paying.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7958202/Surge-in-Britons-exported-for-trial.html