I’m watching NatGeo’s show, Locked Up Abroad. There are many stories of people going to prison in foreign countries for drug smuggling or something, then they escape to another country and are somehow free. Once escaping, why isn’t the new country sending them back to jail? And then they’re broadcasting their escape on TV… why can’t the original country they fled from, order them back to prison in their country?
For example, this guy escaped from a Turkish prison and went on Greek territory and was suddenly a free man. (Billy Hayes, the guy they made the Midnight Express movie on)
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> …why isn’t the new country sending them back to jail?
Every country is its own thing, with its own independent government. There is no world government or law that applies to everyone, so if the local government doesn’t consider someone guilty of a crime then they are free in that territory. The country they escaped from has zero authority in the new country.
Now there can be agreements between countries for things like extradition where they will arrest and send people back to a country to face prosecution or punishment, but that is done on an individual basis by countries which are diplomatically close. If Greece doesn’t particularly like Turkey and doesn’t have extradition then someone who escaped from Turkey’s legal system is free in Greece.
> …why can’t the original country they fled from, order them back to prison in their country?
To reiterate, they have no authority in other countries.
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