Germany says terror arrest illegal
Monday, July 18, 2005 Posted: 1433 GMT (2233 HKT)
BERLIN, Germany -- Germany's high court has ordered the release of a Syrian-born German man whom Spain wanted extradited in connection with the 2003 Madrid bombings.
The Federal Constitutional Court ruled Monday it would be illegal to extradite Mamoun Darkazanli, a Hamburg-based businessman, because the country's constitution bars Germans from being extradited against their will.
"He must be set free following this verdict, which is a blow for the government in its efforts and fight against terrorism," German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries told The Associated Press.
The ruling effectively strikes down Germany's agreement to adopt last year's European Union accord on extradition.
Darkazanli, 46, was arrested in October on Spain's warrant. Investigators there have said he provided logistical and financial help in the Madrid bombings.
He was also allegedly seen in a 1999 wedding video with two of the September 11 suicide pilots -- Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah -- who lived and studied in Hamburg.
Germany's post-war constitution has frustrated anti-terror efforts in the past, with strict provisions against surveillance and extradition to prevent the abuses and atrocities of the country's Nazi era.
An EU spokesman said the arrest warrant would survive the German court ruling, AP reported.
Spokesman Martin Selmayr told AP the ruling did not declare the European arrest warrant unconstitutional, but merely the German national law that implements it.
"From a first reading, it's a judgment that declares null and void the German implementation law, not the European arrest warrant," Selmayr said in Brussels.
Darkazanli appeared on U.S. suspect lists after September 11, but has denied any links to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
German police questioned him shortly after the attacks on New York, but he was freed for lack of evidence and continued to live in Hamburg.
Darkazanli is among 41 suspects, including bin Laden, indicted by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon, who has been investigating al Qaeda, AP said. |
