US diplomat’s wife charged over death of British teenager
Floral tributes lay on the roadside near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire, central England on October 10, 2019, at the spot where British motorcyclist Harry Dunn was killed as he travelled along the B4031 on August 27. - Dunn was killed on August 27 when his motorbike collided with a car near a Royal Air Force base in Northamptonshire in central England, which is used by the US military as a communications hub. (Photo by Lindsey Parnaby / AFP) (Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP via Getty Images)
British media are reporting that the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has issued a wanted notice for a U.S. woman who is accused of killing a British teenager during a car crash last year.
A so-called “Red Notice” was issued for Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a U.S. diplomat, meaning she could provisionally be arrested if she leaves the United States. Such notices are usually initiated by a member country but are not the same as an international arrest warrant.
Sacoolas claimed diplomatic immunity after a deadly car crash in Britain last August and swiftly returned to the United States, setting off a diplomatic dispute between London and Washington.
Britain has requested her extradition, but U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected that request in January.
When asked Monday if Britain pushed for the Interpol notice, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said only that the British government continues to believe that Sacoolas should return to Britain to face judgment.
He said the U.S. decision not to extradite Sacoolas was a “denial of justice.”
“She should return to the U.K. We have made this clear to the U.S., including the prime minister to President (Donald) Trump,” the spokesperson said.
Sacoolas, 42, has been charged by British prosecutors in the death by dangerous driving of 19-year-old Harry Dunn, who was riding a motorcycle when Sacoolas’s car crashed into him.
The accident took place outside RAF Croughton, a British military base in central England used by U.S. forces. At the time, Sacoolas’s husband was an intelligence officer at the base.
Dunn’s parents urged Sacoolas to return to Britain to face justice. They met with Trump at the White House last October in an effort to bring about her extradition. Trump had hoped to persuade the family to meet with Sacoolas who was in another room, but they declined.
Dunn’s mother, Charlotte Charles, said on Twitter Monday that the Interpol development was “important news.”
“I just want to urge Mrs. Sacoolas to come back to the UK and do the right thing,” she added. (VOA)
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