For the Weerter Turk Feyzi T. (54) extradition to Armenia threatens. The man in his fifties is suspected of involvement in a large international heroin transport in 2020.
Extradition to Armenia is Feyzi’s biggest fear, because of the political sensitivities between that country and his native Turkey.
International operation
In March 2020, Armenian investigative services intercepted a large consignment of heroin. According to the justice in Armenia, the intention was to transport the drugs via Georgia to the Bulgarian port city of Burgas. Feyzi was identified as a suspect, but not immediately arrested. He was arrested on November 22, 2021. That happened in the Netherlands, at the request of Armenia.
Prisoners vulnerable
Feyzi has since been released. He is awaiting extradition to Armenia. On Tuesday, the judge in Roermond ruled that extradition is ‘admissible’. Now it is up to Minister Dilan Yesilgöz (Justice and Security) to make a final decision.
The judge informed the minister that in Armenia ‘persons in criminal detention still seem vulnerable when it comes to the protection of fundamental rights’. Yesilgöz is advised to look in particular at the humanity within the Armenian prison system.
No fair trial
Feyzi himself fears that he will not receive a fair trial in Armenia, because he has Turkish nationality. Turkey does not recognize the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and that has caused political tensions between the two countries for years. His lawyer also has doubts about the independence and impartiality of the judiciary in Armenia.
Limited testing framework
The judge says he shares a number of concerns from Feyzi and his lawyer, but those concerns apparently cannot lead to the extradition being declared inadmissible. ‘The assessment framework of the extradition judge is many times more limited than that of the minister’, the judge explains in his judgment. He has advised the minister to take a critical look at the extradition.
Fifteen years in prison
In Armenia, the Weerter suspect faces a sentence of between seven and fifteen years in prison. He can probably serve that sentence in the Netherlands. Feyzi would then only have to spend his period on remand in an Armenian prison. To date, he has denied having anything to do with the drug transport.