SLOVAKIA has expelled failed asylum seeker Mustafa Labsi, an Algerian citizen who was previously convicted abroad of terrorism offences. He was flown to Algeria under escort.
The deportation went ahead after the Supreme Court confirmed a regional court’s decision to dismiss Labsi’s asylum request, the SITA newswire reported.
Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák called the verdict of the Supreme Court a “victory of sense and a guarantee of the security of our citizens”. He said that Slovakia could not allow a man convicted of terrorism to move freely on its territory.
According to Kaliňák, there is no threat of Labsi being subjected to the death penalty in Algeria.
The government had previously ordered Labsi to be expelled from Slovakia, but conditions in Algeria were deemed to be too dangerous to permit his deportation there.
France had earlier sentenced Labsi to five years in prison for planning terrorist attacks. In 2006 Labsi arrived in Slovakia from Austria, to join his Slovak wife. Slovak police detained him and returned him to Austria, but in May 2007 the Austrians returned him to Slovakia.
Labsi’s legal representative argued that his client could be exposed to torture or inhumane treatment in his home country.
