A Syrian refugee who fled to the Netherlands has reportedly confessed to murdering his 18-year-old daughter and dumping her body in a canal before fleeing the country in an apparent admission note sent to a Dutch newspaper.
Father-of-nine Khaled al-Najjar, 52, wrote in an email sent to De Telegraaf that he had killed his 18-year-old daughter Ryan al-Najjar, urging the publication to report ‘I am the one who killed’.
The confession did not specify exactly why he had decided to murder his daughter, with al-Najjar writing only that he was ‘very angry with her’, adding: ‘The reason is between me and the judge. I will read that in court’.
But neighbours and friends suspect Ryan’s death came as the result of an honour killing, with one claiming they had previously sheltered her when she had fled the family home in fear of retribution from her father.
Requesting anonymity to prevent any backlash, they told De Telegraaf that Ryan had a Dutch boyfriend, wanted to stop wearing a headscarf and had been beaten by her father who disagreed with her adoption of a Western lifestyle.
Largely depends on the country. Most countries prosecute only crimes commited in their territory (including ships/planes in/above international waters) or sometimes even by their citizens outside it. There are always exceptions to these rules. As per the meme, think of them more as guidelines that are followed most of the time.
That being said, this example is within the EU, meaning other EU members are obliged to arrest the person and send then to the country that asked for them. There are also various other extradition treaties under which the person can be brought before Dutch courts.
Also, AFAIK ‘capital’ crimes in US lingo are those punishable by death. Since no EU members and only one country in Europe outside it actively retains death as a valid penalty for a crime, this would be closer to a felony in the US. The EU is similar to the US in that regard - EU member states are obliged just like US states to turn over people with a properly published arrest warrant. However, there are no “federal” courts in the EU and “federal” crimes like in the US, at least not in the way as they exist in the US.