British whistleblower successfully resists ‘political’ extradition to Monaco

The Croatian Supreme Court has reversed the decision of the first instance court to order the extradition of former oil-industry whistleblower Jonathan Taylor to Monaco. Mr Taylor, from Hampshire, blew the whistle on bribes paid by his former employer SBM Offshore, a Dutch multinational firm with headquarters in Monaco, to secure oil contracts. The evidence provided by Mr Taylor resulted in an $800m fine for the company.

Mr Taylor was arrested on 31 July 2020 at Dubrovnik Airport on the basis of an INTERPOL Red Notice requested by Monagésque authorities in connection with charges of corruption. The Supreme Court, reversing the decision of the lower court and ordering Mr Taylor’s discharge, accepted the arguments of the defence that the extradition request was politically motivated.