Moroccan court starts hearing Saudi Australian extradition case
RABAT - A Moroccan court on Monday began hearing the extradition case of a Saudi-Australian national whose wife fears he may face torture and even death if sent to Saudi Arabia.
Osama al-Hasani was arrested on Feb. 8 when he arrived in
the Moroccan city of Tangier, where he was planning to join his wife and
four-month-old baby.
“I call on Moroccan authorities to release my innocent
husband ... If he is extradited to Saudi Arabia, I am afraid he would face a
fate similar to that of (Jamal) Khashoggi,” his wife Hanae said, referring to
the journalist killed by Saudi agents in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate in
2018.
“The court did not issue a verdict yet,” Hanae said, adding
that her husband “has not engaged either in overt nor in covert political
activity against Saudi Arabia”.
A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced Hasani, a businessman
who previously worked at a Saudi university, to two years in prison.
A Moroccan justice ministry official said the arrest took
place following an Interpol notice filed by Saudi Arabia, adding that Al Hasani
is wanted by the Saudis for a penal code matter involving theft.
A source who attended the hearing said the defence had
pointed out that Saudi documents mention that Al Hasani was born to a Moroccan
father, which makes him a Moroccan under Morocco’s laws.
Moroccan law prevents the extradition of Moroccans to other
countries, the source quoted lawyers saying.
“Morocco has ratified an anti-torture convention and should
abstain from extraditing a national to a state where he may endure torture,”
said Khadija Ryadi of Moroccan rights group AMDH.
“The circumstances of his detention and possible extradition
are of concern to Australia,” a spokesperson for the Australian foreign
ministry told Reuters by email.
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