Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to reports of the unlawful extradition of Ahmed Jaafar Mohammed Ali from Serbia to Bahrain on 24 January 2022 on the basis of an Interpol red notice, what assessment the she has made of the implications for her policies of that extradition.

In the UK, the Extradition Act 2003 ensures that all individual extradition requests are subject to the same statutory criteria regardless of where the request is from, or the terms of any international agreement that is in place. As extradition cases are subject to judicial process, it is for the UK courts to consider all relevant legal issues and determine whether extradition is appropriate, based on the safeguards and protections afforded within the Act. A requested person will not be extradited if doing so would breach their human rights, if the request is politically motivated, or if they would be at risk of facing the death penalty.

Any misuse of INTERPOL is taken very seriously by this Government. The UK continues to support INTERPOL’s efforts to ensure systems are in place to protect individuals’ rights and uphold Article 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution, which forbids the organisation to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.