Violent human trafficker, 17 other Dutch felons on the lam in Turkey

At least 18 Dutch-Turks who were convicted of a crime in the Netherlands, are roaming freely in Turkey, including human trafficker Saban B., Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice wrote in response to questions from CDA parliamentarian Pieter Omtzigt, NOS reports.

Turkey will not extradite anyone of Turkish nationality. But the Netherlands can request that the convicts be placed in a Turkish prison, if a Turkish court also convicts the felon.

This happened in the case of convicted human trafficker Saban B., who did not return to the Netherlands after being granted special leave in 2009. Two years ago a Turkish court sentenced B. to 7 years and 9 months in prison, the same as his outstanding sentence in the Netherlands. B. appealed and is currently awaiting the process in freedom.

The Dutch judiciary also asked Turkey to take over the punishment in the cases against the other 17 felons currently in the country. All these cases are still pending.

According to Van der Steur, there is also strong evidence that another 10 Dutch-Turkish convicts are living in Turkey. He adds that there is "room for improvement" in the cooperation with Turkey when it comes to handling these felons. A working group was recently established to improve the judicial cooperation.