NEWS

Court rejects Tajikistan’s extradition request for alleged jihadist

Court rejects Tajikistan’s extradition request for alleged jihadist

A Greek court rejected on Wednesday an extradition request by Tajikistan against a 27-year-old national who is wanted on an international arrest warrant for his alleged ties to the ISIS terrorist group.

The members of the Board of Appeals in the city of Nafplio, southern Greece, accepted the argument of the Tajik man and his lawyer, Dimitris Zorbas, who said that the extradition request is politically motivated as the 27-year-old’s wife’s brother is a senior official in his country’s opposition, Kathimerini understands.

This is the reason that the Asylum Agency had accepted his asylum request in 2018.

The man, who has not been named, was arrested in Tripoli on November 5, 2020 when he went to the local police station to renew his travel documents. Officers discovered that Interpol had issued a Red Notice, a high-priority international warrant, for his arrest.

He was detained and led before a prosecutor.

The 27-year-old, who is a father of four children, arrived in Lesvos in 2017 as a migrant and recently lived in an apartment rented by an NGO in Tripoli.

He claims that he is the son-in-law of the leader of the Opposition in Tajikistan and has been persecuted in his country and tortured, which is why he sought asylum in Greece.

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