Terrorist extradition to US blocked after CIA kidnapping, torture

Terrorist suspect Sabir K. will not be extradited to the United States, the court in The Hague ruled today. This is the second time that his extradition has been prohibited by the court.

The United States wants K. extradited because he has ties to the Al Qaeda terrorist movement. He allegedly planned a suicide attack on a US military base in Afghanistan in 2010. K. was deported from Pakistan to the Netherlands in 2011.

Andre Seebregts, K.'s lawyer, wanted the judge to prohibit the extradition because the role played by the US secret service (CIA) in the arrest and torture of K. in Pakistan has not been clarified. The judge agreed with him.

There has been quite a fuss around K.'s extradition. In July 2013 the court ruled that K. could not be extradited since the Dutch government had done too little to ensure that the United States had nothing to do with K.'s torture in Pakistan. In August of that year the state went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in July 2014 that the decision of the court was justified.

In November last year K was again arrested to be extradited. The United States Department of Justice denied that the US had been involved in K.'s arrest in Pakistan. Minister Ivo Opstelten (VVD) of Security and Justice ruled that this official denial removed the obstacle that was in the way of K.'s extradition. Opstelten previously approved the extradition, provided that K. would get treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in the US.