Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
A secret deal was announced in the Netherlands between the authorities in both the Netherlands and Turkey, according to which The Hague handed over to Istanbul a young man who had been arrested two years ago in the Netherlands and had British citizenship, but the authorities in London stripped him of his passport on suspicion of his links to terrorism.
According to Dutch media, his lawyer told the NPO 1 Bureau radio program. His client, Sufyan (28 years old), had been detained in the Netherlands since 2021, after he was arrested by Dutch security during a stopover at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. Sufyan was known internationally. According to the Dutch media, he was facing terrorism charges in the United Kingdom, which did not want him back. His British passport was taken away from him a few years ago because he left for Syria in 2013 to fight against the Assad regime. According to his lawyer, he was with the Free Syrian Army rebels.
And in 2019, after leaving Syria, he was arrested in Turkey, from where he was eventually released and wanted to go to his family in the UK.
lack of evidence
After his arrest in Schiphol, it was investigated whether he had committed criminal offenses in Syria. The Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed that the case was dropped at the end of 2021 for lack of evidence. After that, the person was in custody in Rotterdam.
According to his lawyer, Philip Schuler, his client was transferred to Istanbul. "But what will happen to him there is unknown. Schuler spoke in the media about a secret deal between the Netherlands and Turkey. "The only thing we know is that Turkey is bringing him back. This sounds quite mysterious and it is. How he is treated in Turkey is not clear.” The Netherlands' Ministry of Justice and Security said on Friday it could not comment on individual cases.
Sufyan told the BBC earlier about the reason he went to Syria. “I believed in the Syrian revolution.” "As someone of Arab descent, I thought it was my duty to be a part of it. I have never broken any international law or been involved in attacks on civilians. I was trying to help people in Syria who are suffering."
According to Dutch media, Sufyan is the son of the radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza, who was convicted in Britain of hate speech. Abu Hamza is now serving a life sentence in the United States for his terrorist activities.
He is an Egyptian Islamist who caused a sensation in Britain, and after years of controversy, London brought him to Washington, where he faced a life sentence.
Birth and upbringing
Kamal Mustafa, known in the media as "Abu Hamza Al-Masry," was born on April 15, 1958, in the city of Alexandria, in northern Egypt, to a father who works as an officer in the Egyptian army.
Study and formation
He moved to Britain in 1979 and studied civil engineering at Brighton Polytechnic College, now known as the University of Brighton.
political experience
In early 1990, he participated in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and later moved to Afghanistan as a volunteer to help rebuild Afghanistan after the war. During a campaign to clear mines, he lost his left eye and his right hand was amputated.
According to previous media reports, he is seen in Britain as an example of "Islamic extremism because of his sermons that incite violence and hatred of the other."