BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an extradition request by Turkey for an opponent of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and member of the Hizmet group of cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Businessman Yakup Sagar, 54, moved to Brazil together with his household in 2016 and acquired refugee standing. He owns a shirt manufacturing unit in Sao Paulo.
A high courtroom chamber of 5 justices voted unanimously to disclaim his extradition, saying the Turkish request didn’t fulfill the necessities. The request alleged that Sagar was needed for attempting to destroy the Turkish state.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who dealt with the case, stated the request had no info to again it up, including: “It is for certain that there is no such thing as a risk of a completely neutral trial if extradition is granted.”
Ankara declared Hizmet a terrorist group in May 2016. The motion says it has thousands and thousands of followers worldwide.
Sagar is the second Erdogan opponent Brazil has refused to extradite.
In 2019, the Supreme Court denied a request to extradite Ali Sipahi, a Turkish citizen and naturalized Brazilian who owns a restaurant in Sao Paulo. Sipahi was arrested and later let loose when the courtroom rejected the request.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito, writing by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
