Croatian Supreme Court upholds British whistleblower’s extradition to Monaco

The Croatian Supreme Court has upheld a Dubrovnik County Court decision ordering the extradition to Monaco of former oil-industry whistleblower Jonathan Taylor. In 2012, Mr Taylor blew the whistle on bribes paid by his former employer SBM Offshore, a Dutch multinational firm with headquarters in Monaco, to secure oil contracts. Evidence provided by Mr Taylor has since been used in investigations in multiple jurisdictions and resulted in an $800m fine for SMB Offshore.

Mr Taylor has been detained in Croatia since his initial arrest on 31 July 2020 at Dubrovnik Airport. He was arrested on the basis of a since-deleted INTERPOL Red Notice requested by Monagésque authorities in connection with widely drawn allegations of corruption. This is the second time a Monagésque extradition request for Mr Taylor has come before the Croatian courts. In October 2020, the Supreme Court reversed an earlier County Court decision ordering his extradition on the grounds it was politically motivated.

Mr Taylor has not been convicted of, nor is he charged with, any offence in Monaco. Consequently, his legal team argues that the extradition request amounts to an abuse of process and has indicated an intention to challenge the Supreme Court’s decision. First, by inviting the Croatian Minister for Justice to exercise his discretion to refuse Mr Taylor’s extradition and second, by way of appeals to the Croatian Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights.