Albania State Police said it has “expelled” Harun Celik, 42 years old teacher, who has been arrested five months ago while attempting to escape to Canada. The office of the Albanian Prime Minister told Albanian media “this is a matter of police”, while opposition commented “infringement of human rights is basic pattern of the corrupt and criminal government of Edi Rama”.
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Albania
police confirmed for news website Reporter.al that a Turkish citizen apparently
belonging to Gulen movement, has been “expelled from Albania”,
apparently to Turkey, where President Recep Taip Erdogan has long sought to get
his hands on members of the movement he accuses for masterminding the failed coup
back in 2016.
Harun
Celik, 42, has been arrested in Albania five months ago while attempting to
escape to Canada using fake documents. He has apparently just finished to serve
his sentence in Albania while claiming political asylum, but was instead sent
immediately to Tirana International Airport, apparently on a plane to Turkey.
According
to Reporter.al, State Police spokesperson Gentjan Mullai confirmed the news.
“This
person has been in prison after being arrested by border police in Rinas [international
airport] using fake papers. Based on the law “On Foreigners” he will
be expelled,” Mullai told media.
The office of the Prime Minister Edi Rama also commented for
Reporter, claiming the event is “a matter of legal procedures not related
to the Prime Minister office”.
However, the opposition Democratic Party demanded
clarifications questioning whether this event was compactable with Albanian law
and its international obligations.
“It is of utmost priority for any democratic country, especially for the European Union integration processes, to respect these principles, rights and obligations” the opposition stated in Twitter. “The violation of these rights has been transformed into a normality for the corrupt and incriminated government of [the prime minister] Edi Rama,” DP added.
Ramona Strugariu, a Member of the European Parliament also criticized the decision to expell Celik in a Twitter post.
Prime Minister Edi Rama, Albania signed the CoE Convention on extradition. Moreover, you say Albania is ready for the EU. Then please follow art.19, al. 2 EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and do not extradite #HarunÇelik to Turkey!@Europarl_EN @AlMissionEU— Ramona Strugariu MEP (@RamonaStrugariu) January 1, 2020
