UK court refuses extradition request by Turkish govt. for media boss

A UK Judge has refused an extradition request by the Turkish
government for a dispossessed media proprietor to be sent for trial
in Ankara. The Judge rejected the application request stating that
it was “politically motivated” and threw it out.

Akın İpek, whose newspapers and TV stations have been
confiscated by Turkish officials for criticising the regime of the
president, Recep Tayip Erdoğan, appeared alongside three other men
at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday.

The case against İpek and his co-accused follows demands for the
UK to send back fugitives supposedly involved with the Fethullah
Gülen movement, which the Turkish government claims was responsible
for the 2016 uprising against Erdoğan.

The judge said the men’s transfer to Turkey would put at risk
their rights not to be tortured or subject to degrading
treatment.

The Crown Prosecution Service, which represented the Turkish
government in the hearing, said it would appeal against the
decision.

The ruling is the latest in a series of refusals by the British
courts to extradite suspects to Turkey where thousands of
journalist, lawyers and civil servants remain in prison following
the failed 2016 coup.

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