BELGIUM/FILE: Belgian authorities have lost track of a female Turkish militant sentenced to four years in jail for belonging to a criminal organisation
Record ID:
644045
BELGIUM/FILE: Belgian authorities have lost track of a female Turkish militant sentenced to four years in jail for belonging to a criminal organisation
- Title: BELGIUM/FILE: Belgian authorities have lost track of a female Turkish militant sentenced to four years in jail for belonging to a criminal organisation
- Date: 4th March 2006
- Summary: SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE BELGIAN FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, LIEVE PELLENS, GIVING AN INTERVIEW TO LOCAL TV STATION. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE BELGIAN FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, LIEVE PELLENS, SAYING: "She was in fact convicted by the Court in Bruges on Tuesday to a four year sentence, but she wasn't present at the trial and in fact she didn't have to be present. She was liberated under certain conditions already in 2000 during this investigation, so she had the possibility to be present or represented by her lawyer and she was represented by her lawyer. She used this possibility to be represented by her lawyer. So when the immediate arrest was sought by the Court, there was evidently no possibility to make this arrest." PELLENS GIVES AN INTERVIEW TO LOCAL TV STATION. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE BELGIAN FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, LIEVE PELLENS, SAYING: "Well based on this conviction, we now have a legal possibility to actively search and arrest her. Not only on the national basis, but also on a international basis. This means that first of all, the police is actively searching, looking for her. And on the other hand, if she is arrested abroad, we immediately have this European arrest warrant or an international, a normal international arrest warrant to be able to have her extradited as quickly as possible to Belgium." PELLENS GIVES AN INTERVIEW TO LOCAL TV STATION. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE BELGIAN FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, LIEVE PELLENS, SAYING: "The decision will obviously depend on the country in which she might eventually be arrested. If it is in Germany or in France, obviously we will try to have priority and have her extradited to Belgium to serve her sentence. If she is arrested in Turkey, I do think that there will be some negotiations between the Belgian and Turkish government to see what the priority is."
- Embargoed: 19th March 2006 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA7O0BQ10JYZ68DARXD1JPE4S6F
- Story Text: Fehriye Erdal belonged to the outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), a group on the European Union's "terrorist" list, and is also wanted in Turkey for allegedly murdering a prominent businessman.
Erdal was not at the trial and has the responsibility of handing herself over to the authorities after being sentenced to prison with immediate effect.
"We are actively looking for her," the public prosecutor spokeswoman, Lieve Pellens, said. "She is being looked for nationally and internationally. We have an international warrant for her."
Erdal's lawyer was also at a loss.
"I don't know where she is," Paul Bekaert told Reuters on the telephone, declining to make any other comments.
Erdal was one of seven Turkish militants found guilty at a court in the Belgian city of Bruges on Tuesday.
"I have no information on her whereabouts," Kimyongur Bahar told Reuters, who has been sentenced to four years of jail in Tuesday's court verdict.
Bahar, who remains free until the appeal procedure unlike Erdal, said he was innocent of all charges and would appeal the verdict.
The court case strained relations between Belgium and Turkey because Belgium would not deport Erdal to her home country to stand trial for the murder of businessman Ozdemir Sabanci, a killing claimed by DHKP/C.
"This will help me in my case against her," said Fernand Schmitz, a lawyer who represents Sabanci's family.
He explained that Erdal's possible escape would help him in his bid to appeal Belgium's decision not to trial Erdal for Sabanci's murder.
Belgium did not include the murder charge in the trial, saying the courts did not have legal competency to do so. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None