European court rehears Uzbek deportation case

The two Uzbeks, Rustam Mamatkulov and Abdurasulovic Askarov, filed a complaint against Turkey in 1999 at the European court after being deported on charges of involvement in terrorist activities. Turkey deported them on March 27, 1999 in accordance with an extradition agreement signed with Uzbekistan.

The European rights court held that the Turkish government had failed to abide by a March 19, 1999 non-deportation decision, before the legal process was finalized, and that the government had violated the European Convention on Human Rights.

On Feb. 2, 2004 the court rendered a judgment holding that Turkey had violated the convention, after which the Turkish government asked that the case be reheard by the court’s Grand Chamber, composed of 17 judges and serving as a type of appeals court within the European Court of Human Rights structure. The court is expected to issue its final verdict in the coming days.