Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok in parliament. (source: SME - Marko Erd)
Shortly after Peter Pellegrini was defeated by Ivan Korčok in the first round of presidential election in March 2024, an emergency meeting of the Security Council convened to discuss a dangerous Tajik man being kept in a police facility in Sečovce, a town near Košice.
Although not a member of the Security Council, Pellegrini attended the meeting. It was reportedly held in response to a Moscow terrorist attack, in which a group of Tajik men opened fire in a local concert hall. After the meeting, Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok told the press that a dangerous terrorist from Tajikistan had been was detained in Slovakia and indirectly linked him with the attack.
Since then, the police had intended to deport the Tajik man. However, according to the Sme daily, a court has now ordered to release him due to Interior Ministry's repeated failings.
Terrorist or activist
A few days after the interior minister reported on the man in March 2024, it turned out that the man was probably activist Amriddin Kholmurodov who entered Slovakia in 2022 with a wave of Ukrainian refugees in the wake of the Russian invasion. He was detained pursuant to an international arrest warrant issued by Tajikistan.
In January 2024 a court rejected his extradition to his native country due to concerns about his being tortured. Kholmurodov immediately travelled to Germany, where he was eventually detained in late March and returned to Slovakia. That was when the minister started talking about him.
The man ended up in the refugee camp and was administratively expelled and banned from entering the EU territory for 10 years.
What happened
However, a problem occurred in regards to his extradition. Slovak authorities were unable to find a country that would accept Kholmurodov.
The detention period was repeatedly extended. Last December 19, based on Kholmurodov's application, the Supreme Administrative Court rejected a further extension of the period and was released. According to the daily, the police asked 57 states with the request, six of which said no, while the rest have yet to reply.
The court said that the police had acted neither correctly, nor effectively, as the requests lacked two important conditions. One, the state that would accept the man would not extradite him to Tajikistan in the future. Two, a deadline for reply was not given. The court was also surprised that countries that have above standard ties with Tajikistan were also approached.
After his release, Kholmurodov asked for asylum. The police immediately detained him and placed him back in Sečovce. The man once again filed a lawsuit. The Košice Administrative Court ruled in his favour on January 31 and ordered his release. The decision is not yet final.
