Prague, Dec 14 (CTK) – The Prague High Court confirmed on Monday the admissibility of the extradition of suspected terrorist aides, Ali Fayad, Faouzi Jaber and Khaled Marabi, to the United States, court spokeswoman Marketa Puci has told CTK.
However, the final consent to the extradition must be given by Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikan (ANO).
The Prague Municipal Court permitted the extradition of the three suspects in September, but the men filed complaints against the verdict that were rejected by a higher-level court
“The High Court decided to turn down all three complaints behind closed door on November 30,” Puci said.
Consequently, the municipal court´s verdict has taken effect.
The U.S. authorities say Fayad, a Lebanese with Ukrainian citizenship, along with Jaber and Marabi, from Ivory Coast, wanted to sell arms and cocaine to the U.S. agents who pretended to be the Colombian FARC members.
The agents met the suspects in Ghana, then in Warsaw and finally in a hotel in Prague where the three were arrested last April. They have stayed in Czech custody since.
The men, who face life imprisonment in the United States, plead innocent.
Their defence counsels argue that the charges are based on a police provocation. They also claim that the United States did not provide sufficient guarantees that the suspects would not be subject to inhuman treatment.
The U.S. Department of Justice insists on that the men´s criminal activity was not provoked by U.S. agents. Czech courts shared this opinion.
According to the Lebanese news agency NNA, the case is related to the abduction of five Czech men in Lebanon in July. The unknown abductors allegedly wanted to swap the men for Fayad.
