Kurdish man extradited to Turkey despite UN recommendation

This happened despite "the decision" of the UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) that Serbia should refrain from doing so, the Belgrade-based website Insajder reported on Tuesday, according to Beta.

Ayaz has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in Turkey for undermining the country's constitutional order.

Serbian Justice Minister Nela Kuburovic has signed the consent to the extradition of Turkish Kurd Cevdet Ayaz to Turkey pursuant to a final decision by a court that found that all conditions for his extradition had been met, as well as pursuant to a final decision by the Interior Ministry's Commission on Asylum to reject his asylum request, Tanjug was told by the Ministry of Justice late on Tuesday.

The minister reiterated that the recommendation by the UN Committee against Torture had arrived after the decision on his extradition had been made and voiced her conviction that Serbia would not suffer any consequences.

"Serbia has done everything that is in accordance with legal possibilities, checked whether there were conditions for the extradition whether there were any obstacles to implementing the decision... the Ministry [of Justice] does not have knowledge of what happens further to a person, that is under the jurisdiction of Interpol," the justice minister said, adding that the procedure had been carried out based on a bilateral contract with Turkey.

Answering journalists' questions, she denied that the decision was political, Beta reported.

The Justice Ministry said it had fully complied with a UNHCR recommendation that Serbia abstain from extraditing Ayaz pending resolution of his asylum application.

Ayaz's lawyer in Serbia Ana Trkulja told Insajder earlier on Tuesday that...