{"id":670,"date":"2018-09-05T15:22:23","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T15:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?post_type=article&p=670"},"modified":"2018-09-05T15:22:57","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T15:22:57","slug":"670","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/670\/","title":{"rendered":"EgyptAir Hijacker Relinquishes Opposition to Cyprus Extraditing Him to Egypt"},"content":{"rendered":"

On August 18, 2018, Seif Eddin Mustafa, an Egyptian national who hijacked a domestic EgyptAir flight in 2016 and forced it to land in Cyprus, was extradited to Egypt after relinquishing his fight over extradition.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

On August 18, Egypt took custody of Mustafa and flew him to Egypt, where prosecutors are investigating the matter.<\/p>\n

On August 19, Egyptian prosecutors ordered Mustafa to remain in detention for 15 days while they investigate the 2016 hijacking.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

At the time of the hijacking Cypriot authorities said the incident was not terrorism-related.<\/p>\n

Mustafa was apparently motivated to hijack the plane after a fight between Mustafa, who is 61 years old, and his ex-wife, who lives in Cyprus.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

In March 2016, Mustafa used a fake suicide belt to hijack the EgyptAir flight and diverted it to Cyprus.\u00a0 After a six-hour confrontation with Cypriot authorities on the tarmac of Larnaca airport, Mustafa allowed the release of all 72 passengers and crew.\u00a0 Cypriot authorities arrested Mustafa.<\/p>\n

Initially Mustafa represented to a Cypriot court that he did not mean to cause harm to anyone.\u00a0 Instead he was endeavoring to expose the so-called \u201cfascist regime\u201d of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and obtain the release of 63 female dissidents who were detained in Egyptian prisons.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Cypriot prosecutors, Mustafa admitted in a written statement to police that he hijacked the plane to reunite with his Cypriot family with which he had not seen in 24 years.\u00a0 Initially Mustafa characterized the written statement as \u201cpurposeful misinformation\u201d by the Cypriot and Egyptian governments to discredit him and undermine his defense.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Egypt requested his extradition pursuant to a 1966 extradition treaty.<\/p>\n

In November 2017, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in a unanimous decision upheld a lower court ruling which rejected Mustafa\u2019s defense that he may be tortured by Egyptian authorities or be subjected to an unfair trial if he\u2019s returned. \u00a0\u00a0The court also dismissed the argument that Mustafa can\u2019t be extradited because his political asylum claim is still pending.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

However, the ECHR stayed the extradition of Seif Eddin Mustafa so it could rule on whether doing so would violate Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which prohibits the return of individuals to countries where they may face torture or inhuman treatment.\u00a0 The European Court of Human Rights has further held that this provision prohibits the extradition of a person to a foreign state if they are likely to be subjected there to torture.<\/p>\n

The ECHR decision was issued a few hours after Cyprus\u2019 Supreme Court rejected Mustafa\u2019s appeal against his extradition, ruling that there are no legal reasons for the man not to return to his homeland to face justice.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Doros Polycarpou, KISA migrant support group that helped Mustafa, he decided to return to Egypt and face charges, notwithstanding his fears that he may be tortured because he could \u201cno longer take\u201d his detention conditions in Cyprus\u2019 prison complex.\u00a0 Mustafa complained about his detention in isolation and the psychological stain of being kept from the prison\u2019s general population.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

Over the past quarter-century, human rights considerations have increasingly influenced extradition determinations, such as ones arising out of the 1950 ECHR, the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the 1984 Convention against Torture and all forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).<\/p>\n

A requesting state faced with allegations of potential abuse or lack of a fair trial if the relator is returned may offer diplomatic assurances to persuade the requested state that the relator will be treated in compliance with applicable legal standards.[9]<\/a>\u00a0 On August 19, 2018, the Cypriot Justice Ministry said Egyptian authorities gave assurances that Mustafa would \u201cface legal proceedings commensurate with international standards.\u201d[10]<\/a><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Menelaos Hadjicostis and Samy Magdy, Cyprus extradites Egyptian hijacker who dropped legal fight<\/em>, Associated Press, Aug. 19, 2018.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Id.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 EgyptAir hijack: Cyprus extradites suspect Seif al-Din Mustafa<\/em>, BBC, Aug. 19, 2018.<\/a><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hadjicostis and Magdy, supra.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Menelaos Hadjicostis, EU \u0392locks Egyptian Hijacker\u2019s Extradition from Cyprus<\/em>, Associated Press November 2, 2017.<\/a><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Id. <\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Hadjicostis and Magdy, supra.<\/em><\/p>\n

[9]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 See<\/em> Bruce Zagaris, U.K. Appellate Court Affirms Reliance on Diplomatic Note in Case<\/em>, 23 Int\u2019l Enforcement L. Rep. 85 (2007).\u00a0 David A. Sadoff, Bringing International Fugitives to Justice;\u00a0 Extradition and Its Alternatives 317-19 (2016).<\/a><\/p>\n

[10]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Hadjicostis and Magdy, supra.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On August 18, 2018, Seif Eddin Mustafa, an Egyptian national who hijacked a domestic EgyptAir flight in 2016 and forced it to land in Cyprus, was extradited to Egypt after relinquishing his fight over extradition.[1] On August 18, Egypt took custody of Mustafa and flew him to Egypt, where prosecutors are investigating the matter. On […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"issuem_issue":[54],"class_list":{"0":"post-670","1":"article","2":"type-article","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"issuem_issue-volume-34-issue-9","7":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nEgyptAir Hijacker Relinquishes Opposition to Cyprus Extraditing Him to Egypt | IELR Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/670\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EgyptAir Hijacker Relinquishes Opposition to Cyprus Extraditing Him to Egypt | IELR Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On August 18, 2018, Seif Eddin Mustafa, an Egyptian national who hijacked a domestic EgyptAir flight in 2016 and forced it to land in Cyprus, was extradited to Egypt after relinquishing his fight over extradition.[1] On August 18, Egypt took custody of Mustafa and flew him to Egypt, where prosecutors are investigating the matter. On […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/670\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IELR Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/intlenforcementlawreporter\/?ref=bookmarks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-09-05T15:22:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ielr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/article\\\/670\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/article\\\/670\\\/\",\"name\":\"EgyptAir Hijacker Relinquishes Opposition to Cyprus Extraditing Him to Egypt | IELR Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-05T15:22:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-09-05T15:22:57+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/article\\\/670\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/article\\\/670\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/article\\\/670\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/article\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"EgyptAir Hijacker Relinquishes Opposition to Cyprus Extraditing Him to Egypt\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"IELR Blog\",\"description\":\"Official Blog of the International Enforcement Law Reporter\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EgyptAir Hijacker Relinquishes Opposition to Cyprus Extraditing Him to Egypt | IELR Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/670\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"EgyptAir Hijacker Relinquishes Opposition to Cyprus Extraditing Him to Egypt | IELR Blog","og_description":"On August 18, 2018, Seif Eddin Mustafa, an Egyptian national who hijacked a domestic EgyptAir flight in 2016 and forced it to land in Cyprus, was extradited to Egypt after relinquishing his fight over extradition.[1] On August 18, Egypt took custody of Mustafa and flew him to Egypt, where prosecutors are investigating the matter. On […]","og_url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/670\/","og_site_name":"IELR Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/intlenforcementlawreporter\/?ref=bookmarks","article_modified_time":"2018-09-05T15:22:57+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@ielr","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/670\/","url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/670\/","name":"EgyptAir Hijacker Relinquishes Opposition to Cyprus Extraditing Him to Egypt | IELR Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-09-05T15:22:23+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-05T15:22:57+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/670\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/670\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/670\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"EgyptAir Hijacker Relinquishes Opposition to Cyprus Extraditing Him to Egypt"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/","name":"IELR Blog","description":"Official Blog of the International Enforcement Law Reporter","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":673,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/670\/revisions\/673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}