A Nigerian man that is wanted for the murder of a Thai woman has been told he must stay in detention till Canada receives assurances from Thailand that he will not face the death penalty upon his extradition.
The Nigerian, John Odoemenam, who uses a fake South African passport with the name, Mzwakhe Memela, and is also known as Prince Michael Obi, requested to be discharged from custody recently saying the government lacks “sufficient cause” needed under the Extradition Act to keep him detained, but he was told by the British Columbia Supreme Court that he had to stay in North Fraser Pretrial Centre.
Memela was nabbed after arriving in Canada in 2019 over the alleged murder of Susama Ruenrit, a woman that was found dead by asphyxiation in her room on floor six of Vabua Asotel Hotel, in Soi Lat Phrao 130, in Bangkok in March 2019. The woman, who was found dead by a member of staff of the hotel, also had a cut on her head like she was hit by a blunt instrument.
Closed-circuit TV footage revealed that the victim and Memela, who has both South African and Nigerian passports, entered and left the woman’s room at the relevant time periods.
Ruenrit checked into the hotel the day earlier and was seen on CCTV while leaving her room that evening before she returned. The next day, Memela was seen on CCTV walking toward the room, waiting for around a minute and then being let in. Around 45 minutes later, he was seen opening the door and leaving the room.
Ruenrit’s friend told the police that on the night before she died, she met with Ruenrit and she told her that Obi was leaving Thailand so she would love to “take him for a treat” before he left.
Ruenrit’s father, Prapreut Ruenrit, recalled that Ruenrit left home on Saturday night to deliver an expensive jewellery item to a customer, whom she likely would be meeting at the hotel. The 66-year-old father alleges she had 700,000 baht worth of valuables on her.
Justice Heather MacNaughton says the prolonged detention of Obi has been the result of the ongoing work by the Department of Justice to make sure he doesn’t face capital punishment – something she said officials are “constitutionally required to do” before his custody is transferred.
“Seeking a satisfactory death penalty assurance amounts to ‘sufficient cause’ against the discharge of Mr Obi.”
Canadian authorities were not satisfied with the initial assurance offered by Thailand, but more diplomatic talks took place between October 2020 and May 2022, which culminated in a third death penalty assurance from Thailand. Also, Thai authorities acknowledged that Memela had already served three years in detention and would receive credit for the time served in Canada.
MacNaughton made it known that Canada has gotten a satisfactory death penalty assurance from Thailand in “only one case” and that the extradition process is complicated in the country.
She talked about a different extradition process involving Thailand which lasted almost a decade, from 2001 to 2011, but was restricted partway via the military coup in 2006, which added to the uncertainties.
Canada may agree to extradite the accused without an assurance, but there must be many reasons to believe he would not encounter death penalty.
She said: “Thailand did not then have domestic legislation authorizing death penalty assurances. This does not appear to have changed.”
She however added that Ruenrit’s murder is “entirely circumstantial” but discovered that it had no bearing on the extradition process and says he must stay in Canada, for now.
She said” “While diplomatic discussions about the death penalty assurance are ongoing between Canada and Thailand, Mr Obi’s circumstances do not warrant relief.”
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