prijava
SARAJEVO, July 15 (FENA) – The legal team of the Turkish citizens, whose extradition is requested by the Republic of Turkey, is of the opinion that the rights of their clients should, above all, be protected by BiH institutions and that they (the legal representatives) are there to “provide evidence that their clients are not members of any terrorist organization, that they are not part of any court proceedings and that they have been in BiH legally and legitimately for years.”
Lawyer Nedim Ademović said at today’s press conference that the “situation with Turkish citizens is politicized and that there is great political pressure on BiH institutions to resolve this case and not in a legal way, in line with our laws and the BiH Constitutions and international standards but through political agreements between the two countries.”
Describing the reasons for the situation, he said that Turkey adopted several decrees during the attempted coup in July 2016 and during that time hundreds of thousands of Turkish citizens have had their passports revoked and that Turkey requested from Interpol to issue red warrants against dozens of Turkish citizens in order to prevent them from fleeing or to speed their deportation.
“BiH has already decided on the deportation of Turkish citizens on two occasions, and the Court of BiH has issued a verdict setting out the principles under which BiH must act,” said Ademović, recalling that the Court of BiH refused to extradite the citizens, having been guided by the fact that the international community, first and foremost, did not accept Turkey's position to declare the FETO movement a terrorist organization.
He added that, from a legal point of view, the affiliation with such a movement cannot be incriminating, and on that basis it is not possible to seek someone's deportation.
“In such a situation, it is necessary for Turkey to provide clear/unambiguous evidence in each individual case that someone has specifically committed a criminal offense against democratic processes and democratic rule in Turkey, which would then justify such proceedings,” Ademović said.
In this context, he reminded that at the international level, Kosovo, Moldova and Azerbaijan have already had the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg issue verdicts against them because they did not act according to international standards, while expressing hope that BiH would not allow a similar scenario.
He said that BiH must make a choice – whether it will meet the request of the Turky to extradite their clients or follow legal standards that will not allow it and based on which it will consider their passports valid just like all other European countries do, saying that BiH must follow international standards.
In support of his argument, Ademović recalled the verdicts of the Court in Strasbourg, in which the court clearly stated that “it is contrary to the principles of democracy and the rule of law that people have any consequences because they are persecuted politically in other countries.”
Attorney Senka Nožica reminded her that their clients (Turkish citizens) are family people, who have been in BiH for more many years and are mainly employed in the education sector.
She warned that no action was taken against their clients in either BiH or Turkey for any illegal action that would be the basis for revoking their passports.
“We are preparing for a worst case scenario,” said Nožica, adding that the second set of proceedings stipulates requesting political asylum based on the Law on Movement and Stay of Foreign Nationals in BiH.
At the same time, she said that the legal team will initiate procedures to protect their rights and insist on fair proceedings, stating that it is not a political but a legal process, and that it will do everything within the legal state to protect the interests of the Turkish citizens.
(FENA) L. N.
