UPDATE: Mullah Krekar released after Italy withdrew his extradition request
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Norwegian authorities have released the radical Kurdish preacher Mullah Krekar on Wednesday after the Italian justice ministry withdrew the extradition request for terrorism charges.
Krekar’s official Facebook page released a photo of the Kurdish preacher which claimed to show him after his release.
The Italian justice ministry has notified the Norwegian part that a ruling from an Italian court had voided the basis for his extradition, Reuters reported.
Earlier his Facebook page said he will be released because “his problem [the legal case] against him turned out to be a lie and baseless.”
Last week the Norwegian Supreme court ruled that Mullah Krekar could be extradited to Italy to face terrorism charges after he lost an appeal.
The Italian justice ministry did not provide explanation to its Norwegian counterpart regarding withdrawing the extradition request, Reuters reported citing Norway’s Director of Public Prosecution.
Krekar was arrested last Wednesday morning Norwegian time by the security forces in his home “under the justification that he may flee”, according to a Facebook post published on his official account.
He was accused of having a hand in planning terrorist activities in Europe by leading a group called Rawti Shax, a claim that he denies.
Mullah Krekar was sentenced in March 2012 to 6 years in prison but was released in January 2015 after a judge reduced his sentence.
He has faced several legal charges in Norway, where he has lived since 1991 with his family.
Krekar, a flamboyant Kurdish Islamist in exile, is wanted in Kurdistan Region for terrorism charges dating back to late 1990s and early 2000s for founding the Kurdish jihadist group Ansar al-Islam. Back then that group declared an Islamist entity in the southern Kurdish towns of Biara and Tawela in the run up for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
Krekar’s official Facebook page released a photo of the Kurdish preacher which claimed to show him after his release.
The Italian justice ministry has notified the Norwegian part that a ruling from an Italian court had voided the basis for his extradition, Reuters reported.
Earlier his Facebook page said he will be released because “his problem [the legal case] against him turned out to be a lie and baseless.”
Last week the Norwegian Supreme court ruled that Mullah Krekar could be extradited to Italy to face terrorism charges after he lost an appeal.
The Italian justice ministry did not provide explanation to its Norwegian counterpart regarding withdrawing the extradition request, Reuters reported citing Norway’s Director of Public Prosecution.
Krekar was arrested last Wednesday morning Norwegian time by the security forces in his home “under the justification that he may flee”, according to a Facebook post published on his official account.
He was accused of having a hand in planning terrorist activities in Europe by leading a group called Rawti Shax, a claim that he denies.
Mullah Krekar was sentenced in March 2012 to 6 years in prison but was released in January 2015 after a judge reduced his sentence.
He has faced several legal charges in Norway, where he has lived since 1991 with his family.
Krekar, a flamboyant Kurdish Islamist in exile, is wanted in Kurdistan Region for terrorism charges dating back to late 1990s and early 2000s for founding the Kurdish jihadist group Ansar al-Islam. Back then that group declared an Islamist entity in the southern Kurdish towns of Biara and Tawela in the run up for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.