Earlier today, Westminster Magistrates’ Court ruled that Hamdi Akin Ipek and his co-accused Ali Celik and Talip Buyuk should not be extradited to Turkey.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard the men’s lawyers argue that they should not be extradited to Turkey because the charges against them were “politically motivated” and that any trial in Turkey would be “flagrantly unfair” and in breach of their human rights.
In response, lawyers representing the Turkish government argued that the three man have alleged links with the outlawed Gulenist movement which the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, claims was responsible for the attempted coup in 2016. The Turkish government also argued that the political background to the case was irrelevant to the extradition requests because extradition requests between friendly states, such as Turkey and the UK, should be treated in good faith.
In his ruling, Judge John Zani explained that he had “serious reservations about the current state of the Rule of Law in Turkey” and that “by reason of their actual or perceived political views” Mr Ipek, Mr Celik and Mr Buyuk would face a real risk of having their human rights breached if they were to be extradited to Turkey.
The Turkish government is expected to appeal against the ruling to the High Court.
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Categories: Turkey, United Kingdom
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