Court Leaves Fikret Huseynli in Kyiv for Another Two Weeks

Baku / 17.03.18 / Turan: The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv decided to prolong the stay of the Azerbaijani journalist Fikret Huseynli in the Ukrainian capital until April 2.

The court hearing began on March 16 at about 10 pm local time and ended at about 1 am on March 17. Turan was informed about this by Huseynli himself.

Previously, the term of Huseynli's stay was to end on March 19. However, the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor's Office requested another two months to check the documents of communication with the request for Huseynli's extradition to Azerbaijan and, in connection with this, appealed to the court.

"My lawyer and I brought the illegality of the actions of the Ukrainian prosecutor's office to court. I told them that six months ago I was to be released. For, according to international conventions, a person who has received refugee status in one country has rights arising from this status in other countries. However, the Kyiv prosecutor's office does not want to accept this for 6 months already.

We brought to the attention of the court also the fact that on November 13, 2017 my name was excluded from the search system of Interpol. Therefore, my detention and extradition are illegal. In addition, the Geneva Convention prohibits extradition of persons fleeing from their country back if they have received the custody of another state. In addition, the Azerbaijani authorities only voice political accusations against me," Huseynli said.

In addition, the Consul of the Netherlands confirmed his status as a political refugee and a man who did not violate the laws during his stay in that country. The Consul also confirmed the receipt of Dutch citizenship by Huseynli and asked for his return.

However, the court heeded the arguments of the defense and provided the prosecutor's office only two weeks to complete the extradition check - until April 2. -06d-