Politician Mehmet Çakas is at risk of being deported to Turkey at the end of the month.
Çakas, 45, was convicted last year by the Celle Higher Regional Court for membership in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and is currently being held in Uelzen Prison. In 2022, he was arrested in Italy and extradited to the Federal Republic of Germany under pressure from German authorities.
Two days ago, he was informed that he would be deported to Turkey on August 28.
In a statement on the matter, the Azadî Legal Aid Fund said that Mehmet Çakas could be deported at any moment. The statement read: “The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) rejected Mehmet Çakas’s asylum application to the Lüneburg Administrative Court in May this year. Although the appeal is still pending, the court rejected the request for a stay of execution. This means that Çakas is required to leave the country and could be deported at any time.”
In violation of the constitution and the ECHR
In the statement released by Azadî, it was emphasized that the court disregarded the concrete risks Mehmet Çakas is facing in its deportation ruling: “The Lüneburg Administrative Court failed to seriously consider the deportation ban under Article 60(5) of the Residence Act. Under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), deportation must be prohibited in cases where there is a threat of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, or an unfair trial.”
Risk of torture remains
Azadî stated that if Çakas is extradited to Turkey, he faces the risk of torture and an aggravated life sentence. Recalling the ongoing case against him in Turkey, the statement read: “At the beginning of July, the Celle Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that if Mehmet Çakas were deported directly from prison to Turkey, it would waive the enforcement of his sentence. This paved the way for his extradition. However, the fact that he was convicted in Germany for membership in the PKK alone is enough to foresee that he will face even harsher punishment, unfair trials, and torture in Turkey. Indeed, a case in which an aggravated life sentence is being sought against him is still ongoing.”
The statement also recalled that Mehmet Çakas was extradited from Italy to Germany in 2023, emphasizing that, as a Turkish citizen, he cannot be extradited to a third country without Italy’s consent: “It appears that the German authorities have obtained this consent. Yesterday, the Lower Saxony State Reception Authority informed Çakas that he would be taken from Uelzen Prison and deported on August 28.”
The deportation decision is unworthy of a state governed by the rule of law
The statement went on to note that certain legal procedures that could halt the deportation are still ongoing: “Firstly, Mehmet Çakas’s lawyers have filed an urgent appeal against the deportation decision with the Federal Constitutional Court. A decision on this appeal is expected before August 28. Secondly, the Lüneburg Administrative Court has not yet ruled on the appeal against the negative decision issued by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in May. Therefore, BAMF’s decision is still subject to legal review. The hearing for this main case is scheduled for September 8, about a week and a half after the deportation date was announced.”
Azadî Legal Aid Fund strongly criticized the position of the German authorities, stating: “Authorities and courts in Germany are systematically failing to take seriously the threats to the basic and human rights of dissident Kurds in Turkey. Instead, they have given in to a wave of racist hysteria. This approach is part of the ‘deportation offensive’ initiated by then Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz.”
The statement concluded with the following remarks: “The State Reception Authority is seeking to deport Mehmet Çakas even though the Lüneburg Administrative Court has not yet ruled on BAMF’s decision. This cuts short the legal process. Even if it complies with current law, it is unworthy of a democratic state governed by the rule of law and unacceptably restricts the right to effective legal protection. It is now the responsibility of civil society to raise its voice against this injustice and to persuade the Lower Saxony State Government to reconsider and intervene.”
Source: ANF News
