Serbia yet to extradite Kurdish man wanted by Turkey

Serbia yet to extradite Kurdish man wanted by Turkey

Ayaz is a Kurd and a Turkish citizen who has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in Turkey for undermining the country's constitutional order.

Trkulja told Beta today she was yet to be officially informed of the Serbian Justice Ministry's decision to extradite her client to Turkey, and that she learned this from the media.

Earlier in the day, the Justice Ministry told the agency that the minister had made a positive decision in the extradition case.

"The minister of justice, based on a final court decision that all conditions for extradition had been met, as well as on the rejected asylum application (second instance decision of the MUP Asylum Commission), made a positive decision on the extradition," the ministry said.

The ministry added that the recommendation of the UNHCR High Commissioner for Refugees - whose letter arrived at the end of November, stating that Serbia "should refrain from extraditing Turkish citizen A.C. until the issue of his asylum request has been resolved" - had been "fully taken into account."

The Appellate Court in Novi Sad ruled, confirming an earlier decision of the Higher Court in Sabac, that during the proceedings, the defense "indicated that the UN Committee Against Torture had recommended that Serbia refrains from the extradition to Turkey," the ministry added.

Although the defense made this statement, the Appellate Court dismissed the appeal of A.C. and confirmed the decision of the Higher Court in Sabac, which found that all conditions for his extradition had been fulfilled, the ministry said.

"The court did not provide evidence to the Ministry of Justice about the allegations of the defense, that is, of the recommendation of the Committee, nor can it be established from the explanation of the court decision that the court had direct insight into the letter of the Committee," the ministry claims.

It is also pointed out that "when the extradition decision was issued, the Ministry of Justice had no insight into this recommendation."

The ministry added that it received the UN Committee's recommendation "several days" after the decision to extradite Ayaz was sent to competent state authorities.