Cyprus extradites Egyptian airline hijacker

Cyprus' Justice Ministry said Sunday Seif Eldin Mostafa had been flown back to Egypt, asserting that the 61-year-old had fired his lawyer and dropped his legal battle to avoid extradition.

Egyptian authorities had "given assurances that Mostafa would face legal procedures that comply with international standards," the ministry said.

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Egyptian authorities said Mostafa had been handed over to an Egyptian Interpol team in Nicosia late on Saturday.

ECHR delayed extradition

Cyprus' migrant support group KISA, giving his full name as Seif Eldin Mostafa Mohamed Emam, said he had decided to face prosecution in Egypt, despite fears of torture, because of insufferable "isolation" practices in Nicosia's central prison.

Last year, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delayed the extradition, demanding that Cypriot appellate judges first examine Mustafa's complaint that if extradited he would be "exposed to the real risk of death or torture" in Egypt — in breach of European and UN conventions.

Commandeered flight

In March 2016, Mostafa had commandeered a domestic Egypt Air flight from Alexandria to Cairo with 72 passengers and crew on board, using a fake suicide belt.

On landing in Larnaca, Cyprus, negotiations led to the gradual release of all occupants and Mostafa's surrender.

He subsequently told Cypriot judges that he was a liberal who was trying to tell the world about what he called the "fascist regime" of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

The Egyptian people were subjected to "abductions, disappearance, illegal detention and extrajudicial killings," Mustafa said.

Cyprus rejected asylum bid

Weeks after the hijacking, Cyprus rejected his asylum bid and began proceedings to return him under an Egyptian request submitted via a bilateral extradition agreement between Nicosia and Cairo, which also have burgeoning economic links.

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Cyprus's Asylum Service had already decided his hijacking had excluded him from international refugee protection.

Attributed to Mostafa was a reported demand that he wanted Egypt to release 63 female dissidents held in Egyptian jails and that he wanted to renew contact with his Cypriot ex-wife – a claim he later denied.

ipj/rc (dpa, AFP, AP, Reuters)