Uzbekistan delivers files for dissident's extradition to Norway


Czech news agency CTK
December 5

The Justice Ministry today received official files from the judiciary bodies of Uzbekistan which has asked for the extradition of dissident Muhammad Solih for alleged involvement in a terrorist attack, ministry spokeswoman Iva Chaloupkova told CTK on Wednesday.

The ministry will give all the information to the Prague State Attorney's Office, she added.

"The documents will be reviewed and a preliminary investigation will be started on whether to propose his extradition," Prague State Attorney's Office spokesman Martin Omelka said.

The City Court must decide about Solih within 40 days after his arrest or he will be released from custody.

Solih was detained by Czech authorities on the basis of an Interpol warrant of arrest on his arrival at the Prague airport last week.

Solih's lawyer Miroslava Kohoutova applied for asylum on behalf of her client on Monday.

Solih fled President Islam Karimov's regime in Uzbekistan, where he was in early 1999 sentenced in absentia to 15.5 years in prison for his alleged participation in a terrorist attack in Tashkent in which 16 people were killed. In Uzbekistan he could face even death penalty, according to observers.

Human rights organizations and Norway, in which he had previously resided, have asked the Czech Republic to release Solih and let him return to Norway. On Tuesday [4 December] the Norwegian government sent a diplomatic note to this effect to the Czech government.

The Justice Ministry today asked Norway to provide more information about its granting of asylum to Solih, Chaloupkova said.

"We expect to obtain the information later today," she added.