Vietnamese officials accused of sexual assault in Wellington cannot be extradited

By the time police identified the suspects, they had already left New zealand.

“Because we do not have an extradition treaty with Vietnam, we could not begin extradition proceedings and therefore no charges were laid.”

The police then wrote a letter to be sent through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) to the Vietnamese ambassador, explaining what happened and “expressing the New Zealand police’s deep concern at this behaviour”.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade shared these concerns and this was conveyed to the ambassador.”

MFAT confirmed that the Vietnamese officials were not entitled to diplomatic immunity as it only applies to diplomatic staff accredited to New Zealand.

“The police have no doubt that these two women were indecently assaulted by two men while they were working and if these men were still in New Zealand we would have pursued criminal charges,” Van Den Heuvel said.

Police carried out a “thorough investigation” and regularly informed the victims as well as offering victim support.

“While we know this is not the outcome they would have hoped for, the police have exhausted all plausible avenues of investigation.”