Larnaca district court on Friday rejected a request from Germany to extradite Tzerkez Korkmaz, a Kurd with Turkish nationality, saying it believed he would be tried for his political opinions.
A number of political parties as well as Kurdish citizens had previously argued against the extradition.
The decision by Larnaca district court judge Michalis Charalambous was greeted with applause by Kurds who had packed the court room to hear the decision.
Korkmaz thanked Cyprus justice and people of Cyprus. As regards the Germany arrest warrant, he said that the Republic of Cyprus and the Cyprus justice system had done the right thing by following due process.
He has been in Cyprus since 2009 when he was recognised as political refugee. In 2013 he lived in Hamburg Germany for two years. The German authorities had issued a European arrest warrant saying they wanted to try him for participation in the PKK and for suspected terrorist activities.
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https://in-cyprus.com/man-wanted-in-germany-for-terrorist-links-arrested-in-cyprus/
