British judges block attempts to extradict alleged 'PKK killer' to Turkey

High Court says Ozgur Tanis, who has lived in Britain for 23 years, would not receive a fair trial

Appeal court judges in London ruled against Turkey over the extradition of an alleged PKK member. AP

British judges have blocked efforts by Turkey to extradite an alleged Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) militant accused of two murders because he would not receive a fair trial.

Ozgur Tanis is wanted by the Turkish authorities after he was accused of being part of a group who strangled two people with a rope 22 years ago.

Turkish prosecutors also accuse him of blocking a road and stopping motorists at gunpoint to seize money, identity cards and other documents on behalf of the PKK two years earlier.

Mr Tanis, 45, who lives with his family in London, says he was “falsely implicated” in the alleged crimes based on evidence from four members of the PKK and that he was applying for asylum to the UK at the time of the offences.

A Kurd, Mr Tanis was born in south-east Turkey and came into contact with PKK supporters after he moved to Istanbul, according to a court ruling.

He became involved in Kurdish left-wing politics and was detained in 1988 for two days. He claims he was tortured and threatened with death if he continued with his “separatist activities”.

He left Turkey in November for Germany – where his brother is a political refugee – before moving to the UK in December 1998. He became a naturalised Briton in 2010 and works in the catering industry.

The PKK, which wants an independent Kurdish state, has waged a rebellion against Turkey since 1984 that has left more than 40,000 people dead.

About 5,500 people have died since 2015 alone, according to the International Crisis Group think tank.

A judge last year ruled that Mr Tanis should not be returned to Turkey to face trial because of potential prejudice against him because of his PKK links.

He would face life in prison if convicted and would likely spend many years in solitary confinement with limited access to other prisoners and close family.

Professor Bill Bowring, an expert in human rights law, told Westminster magistrates court last year that the prospect of Mr Tanis having a fair trial in Turkey was “very remote indeed” because of his PKK sympathies. The PKK is recognised as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and EU.

He said since a 2016 coup plot, more than 4,000 judges and prosecutors have been dismissed or moved and hundreds of lawyers investigated for criminal offences.

Turkey, which first requested his extradition in May 2019, appealed against last year’s ruling but judges on Monday agreed that Mr Tanis would not have a fair trial because of his Kurdish ethnicity and political sympathies. It also said Mr Tanis could be subject to inhumane treatment in prison.

Mr Tanis’s solicitor, Ali Has, said the ruling sent a message to Turkey about its lack of respect for human rights.

“We sincerely hope that judgments such as this will help improve human rights for all and strengthen the mechanisms protecting individuals against government abuse of power”, he said after the judgment.

Turkey has lost a series of extradition cases in the UK because of concerns over prejudicial trials and prison conditions.

They include the case of media tycoon Hamdi Akin Ipek, whose newspapers and television stations were confiscated by Turkish officials for criticising President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regime.