Bona fide US Army deserters are deported back to the US. This guy did not do his homework. Perhaps he should flee to Cuba or Mexico.
I wish he would be dragged back by a team of ex-military bounty hunters that would teach him a little lesson on his way back to face court-martial.
Sounds like that extradition treaty aint so strong. My guess is there is no death penalty up there too so you dont extradite murderers who face the death penalty?
At the time of Vietnam there was no draft in Canada, therefore avoiding the draft was not an offense in Canada and the draft dodgers could hide out here without fear.
I recall that the draft dodgers were later pardoned. In fact, I seem to recall that it was our fine president Jimmy Carter that did it. Though I also seem to remember that it was draft dodgers, rather than deserters, that were the subjects of the pardons… it’s been a while though.
So regardless of what anyone says about Canadians or Canada, Americans have historically been pretty gutless when it came to dealing with these people – that’s my memory anyway. In that respect they get what they deserve, IMO.
Certainly the civilian precident has been set. The Canadian government allowed the extradition of Lawrencia ("Laurie") Bembenek even though they found fault with "the many legal errors in her trial." After the television program “American’s Most Wanted” posted her picture, she was discovered in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
We shall see. Bottom line, I would not want to be in this deserter's shoes. If he gets caught he will miss more of his son's life than he can imagine.
Speaking strictly for myself, he is welcome to stay in his newly chosen country.
It will be interesting to see whether this happens; it seems as though his whereabouts are either known or easily found.
I thought you were right. Running to Canada, to avoid being drafted, during Vietnam, is different that being a deserter. He may get deported sooner than he thinks.