Prague, March 12 (CTK) – The Czech police made no mistake and committed no crime by detaining Kurdish politician Saleh Muslim recently, as the step was consented by a state attorney’s office that had all information about the detained man, General Inspection of Security Corps (GIBS) spokesman Ivo Mitacek said today.
The GIBS checked the case at the request of Interior Minister Lubomir Metnar (for ANO).
The Prague Municipal State Attorney’s Office received a request for the arrest and extradition of Muslim, which the Turkish police had sent to the Czech police, Mitacek told CTK.
The Czech police acted based on the consent of the state attorneys who were acquainted with all circumstances related to the person to be arrested, he said.
The police arrested Muslim based on the law on international judicial cooperation in criminal affairs.
“No suspicion of a crime has been uncovered [by the GIBS],” Mitacek said, adding that the GIBS completed the check last week and sent the results to Metnar.
Turkey says Muslim, a 67-year-old Syrian Kurd, is a terrorist, while Kurds consider him a hero in the fight against Islamic State.
A Prague court ordered Muslim’s release on February 27, after four days in custody.
His arrest and subsequent release resulted in a diplomatic rift. Turkey addressed a note to Prague. The Czech Foreign Ministry rejected Ankara’s accusation that by releasing Muslim, Prague supported international terrorism.
Until last year, Muslim was in the leadership of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the driving Kurdish political force in northern Syria. Turkey says the PYD is a part of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it denotes as a terrorist organisation.
Ankara accuses Muslim of a murder, attempted murder and destruction of public property. Turkey issued a warrant for his arrest in November 2016 within the investigation of a bomb attack that previously killed 29 people in Ankara. Muslim dismisses any involvement in a bomb attack.