Norway’s new justice minister, Monica Mæland, has determined that all legal requirements and conditions have been met regarding the pending extradition of Islamic cleric Mullah Krekar. She issued an extradition order Wednesday, which Krekar’s defense attorney has promised to keep fighting.
Italy formally requested Krekar’s extradition after he was convicted on terror charges last year and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The 63-year-old Krekar, officially identified as Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad, can still appeal the extradition to King Harald V and has three weeks to do so, but it’s unlikely to be granted after two courts have approved it and Norway’s Supreme Court rejected Krekar’s appeal.
Krekar’s defense attorney Brynjar Meling has also vowed to appeal to the International Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and file other legal protests to halt an extradition. The former refugee from Northern Iraq who first came to Norway around 30 years ago remains, meanwhile, in prison in Oslo. Italian authorities claim he led a terror network called Rawti Shax that planned terror attacks around Europe. He has denied the charges but refused to attend his trial in Italy.
newsinenglish.no staff
