Spain to extradite Turkish citizen suspected of smuggling banned gear to Iran
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s excessive court docket has agreed to extradite to the USA a Turkish citizen suspected of smuggling to Iran tools that can be utilized in making missiles, circumventing an arms embargo, court docket paperwork confirmed on Wednesday.
Spanish police arrested Murat Bukey within the Barcelona airport in September on the request of U.S. prosecutors, who suspect him of importing from the USA and promoting in Iran gasoline cells that can be utilized in powering ballistic missiles and biodetection in 2012 and 2013, the court docket mentioned.
Iran was then beneath a UN arms embargo that banned imports of missile parts and applied sciences. The embargo expired in 2020, however Iran stays beneath U.S. financial sanctions.
In its ruling the court docket mentioned Bukey had “falsely declared the fabric would not be exported to Iran”. He’s additionally accused of cash laundering.
Through the extradition listening to, Bukey’s legal professionals argued the U.S. statute of limitations had run out on the alleged offences and that that they had been allegedly dedicated whereas he was in Turkey, not in the USA.
Nonetheless, his lawyer, Llorenc Caldentey Morey, mentioned he was not interesting in opposition to the choice. Bukey will stay in custody pending the approval of the extradition by the Spanish authorities.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro, modifying by Andrei Khalip and Alex Richardson)
