Kurdish man faces extradition to Turkey despite having being granted asylum in Switzerland

A Kurdish young man called Yaser Örnek, who was detained in Germany despite having the right to reside in Switzerland, was arrested at Turkey's request.

A Kurdish young man named Yaser Örnek (27), who was granted political asylum in Switzerland 4 years ago due to the political pressures he was exposed to in Turkey, was detained in the Bernau region of Munich, Germany, where he was on a visit last Saturday.

Turkey demanded the extradition of Örnek, who has been in custody for 6 days by the German authorities.

According to the information obtained from the lawyers, Örnek will be sent to the maximum security prison in Munich next Tuesday.

Örnek’s friend Durmaz Yahişi, who was with him when he was taken into custody, said that they were stopped by plainclothes police while driving on the highway and kept waiting for hours in reverse handcuffs.

Stating that the police did not inform about the reason for the detention despite their insistence, Yahişi added that they were worried about Örnek being extradited to Turkey and said that there was a need to raise public awareness.

Yaser Örnek was detained and arrested for the democratic actions and activities he participated in while he was a student at Çukurova University.

He was released pending trial after 3 months in prison. However, he was later sentenced to prison for "being a member of a terrorist organization". In June 2018, he was granted political asylum and a residence permit in Switzerland.