Madagascar and US strengthen cooperation against cybercrime
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on L'Express de Madagascar
Madagascar and the United States have signed a judicial cooperation agreement against cybercrime, after 13 centres were dismantled in Madagascar with help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The agreement was concluded in Washington during a meeting between Ernaivo Fanirisoa and Jeanine Ferris Pirro, according to L'Express de Madagascar.
Thirteen cybercrime centres in Madagascar have already been dismantled through cooperation between the Malagasy authorities and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US government’s investigative service, according to a report by the US Department of Justice.
Madagascar’s Justice Minister, Ernaivo Fanirisoa, and Jeanine Ferris Pirro, US Attorney for the District of Columbia and head of the Scam Center Strike Force in the United States, agreed in Washington on Friday to strengthen judicial cooperation between the two countries. A cooperation agreement was signed on the occasion.
Jeanine Ferris Pirro said Madagascar was the only African country to have arrested and imprisoned perpetrators of these crimes, while other countries would expel them from their territory. She called on Madagascar to step up its action against cybercrime and to serve as an example on the African continent.
The agreement comes as Washington had requested six extraditions from Madagascar on 31 October in a cryptocurrency fraud case. It follows the US extradition requests announced on 31 October.
