The Criminal Investigation Bureau yesterday said it is seeking the assistance of the International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol, which it has asked, through Japan, to issue a warrant for the arrest of Alihammad Jomaah, an Iraqi suspected of killing his Taiwanese wife’s parents in Taipei.
Jomaah on Tuesday left Taiwan with his one-year-old son on a flight bound for Japan, authorities said on Wednesday.
ASSISTANCE UNCERTAIN
The police have asked law enforcement in Japan to help track down the 31-year-old.
However, as Taiwan is not a member of Interpol and has no extradition treaty or mutual judicial assistance pact with Japan, the assistance received is likely to be limited, the bureau said.
To locate Jomaah, local law enforcement can only seek unofficial assistance from the Japanese police, it said.
NO INFORMATION
As of Wednesday evening, local investigators said that they had received no information from Japanese authorities as to whether Jomaah was still in that country.
However, even if the Japanese police apprehend the suspect, with no extradition treaty between Taiwan and Japan, it would be difficult for Taiwanese authorities to secure his extradition, the bureau said.
CONTACT
Police said that Jomaah contacted his wife on Wednesday afternoon via Line video chat and told her their son was with him in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Jomaah’s parents-in-law, both in their 70s, were found dead at their home in Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) on Wednesday morning, police said.
An autopsy was to be conducted on Wednesday afternoon to confirm the cause of the couple’s death, the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office said.
WIFE’S STATEMENT
Jomaah’s wife gave police a statement the same day, investigators said.
Police cited Jomaah’s wife as saying that she and her son in March returned from Japan, where they had been living, because her husband had become physically abusive.
Jomaah and his wife had argued over custody and child visitation rights in the event of a divorce, investigators said, citing the wife.
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