AMSTERDAM — The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that one of the former leaders of the Kurdish PKK, Nuriye Kesbir, cannot be deported from the Netherlands. The ruling was handed down on an appeal for cassation lodged by Justice Minister Piet-Hein Donner. The Christian Democrat CDA minister had wanted to deport the Kurdish activist to Turkey.
But the Supreme Court said a ruling by the appeals court in The Hague at the start of 2005 blocking the extradition was the correct decision. It accepted the appeals court reasoning that insufficient guarantees had been given that Kesbir would not be tortured in Turkey.
| Heard about the Turkish truncheons and mustache wax, did they? |
Turkey had requested Kesbir's extradition because the PKK leader was allegedly involved in terrorist attacks.
The Supreme Court ruling represents the definitive end to the drawn-out battle over Kesbir's extradition. |