US may extradite Israeli drug dealer to Turkey
State Department may extradite an Israeli prisoner serving time in Ohio to Turkey for drug trafficking. Daniel Rosen's attorney: ‘The long wait could end his life’
Can an Israeli citizen serving time in a United States prison be extradited to Turkey? The US State Department is expected to rule on whether 41-year-old Daniel Rosen, an Israeli citizen who is serving time at an Ohio prison, will be extradited to Turkey.
Rosen has actually finished his prison term and was scheduled to be released in 2002, but his release was postponed due to an extraditing request by Turkey.
The story begins in 1990 when Rosen flew from Israel to Turkey and was detained there for suspicions of drug trafficking after Yassin Fakri, a local Turkish criminal, identified Rosen as his partner in crime. Rosen was carrying USD 20,000 he claimed were meant for gambling. After four hours at the police station in Antalya, Turkey, Rosen managed to escape to Israel, where he immediately changed his name.
In 1995 Rosen flew to Miami, Florida where he was arrested for suspicions of involvement in a drug trafficking deal with a Cuban national. Following a trial he was sentenced to jail time in1996 and was scheduled to be released in 2002.
Two months before his release, the Turkish police matched Rosen's fingerprints with the Americans and his new identity was revealed. Turkey filed an extraditing request with the State Department and Rosen's release was delayed.
Should Rosen be extradited to Turkey he is facing a harsh sentence to be served in an infamous Turkish prison system.
"We are very concerned that once the State Department handles the case Daniel will be extradited to Turkey, which to him means a death sentence," a relative of Rosen told Ynet.
'No one has ever been extradited from US to Turkey'
Rosen's attorney, Mordechai Tsivin, discovered that the Turkish extradition request was based on evidence that was forced out Yassin Fakri by means of torture, with total disregard to the Geneva Convention.
Tzivin presented this argument in the American court, but the judge ruled that although the testimony was forced out by means of torture and contradicts article 15 of the Geneva Convention, the Geneva Convention has no legal footing in the US and therefore there is no reason preventing the court from accepting the evidence.
The judge ruled that the case would be transferred to diplomatic and political officials in the US.
"Our claim is that Rosen should not be extradited to Turkey since, as far as we know, no one has ever been extradited from the US to Turkey", said Tzivin, who specializes in cases of Israelis jailed overseas and transferring them to Israel. "It's also a fact that Fakri's sentence was reduced drastically in Turkey after he incriminated Rosen, a fact that further tarnishes his testimony.
“The Israeli Foreign Ministry has been examining the case for the longest time now and I'm concerned about Daniel's wellbeing. I have enlisted the help of influential people in the United States but the Foreign Ministry's lack of action impairs their efforts," explained Tzivin.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in response that the issue being examined.
