Opinion on the extradition of M.D. to Turkey

The individual is a Turkish Kurd. In 1996 he was sentenced to harsh life imprisonment by the State Security Court in Izmir. Further, upon the abolishment of the State Security Courts, his sentence was changed to a term of imprisonment which was subsequently upheld by the Turkish Supreme Court.

During his term in prison, M.D. managed to get to Sweden. He was granted international protection and leave for permanent residence. In addition, the Supreme Court of Sweden refused to surrender the Kurd to Turkey.

The opinion of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights contains information on the state of human rights in the Republic of Turkey and indicates such irregularities as the use of tortures, poor prison conditions, infringing the principle of fair trial, etc. The Foundation also referred to the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, which has ruled on many occasions that proceedings pending before the State Security Courts had failed to meet the standards of a fair trial.

The HFHR believes that the current state of human rights in Turkey and the fact that M.D. did not have access to a fair trial speak against his surrender to this country.

The opinion was prepared by the Programme of Legal Assistance for Refugees and Migrants.