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UN blasts Sweden over Egypt expulsion

Published: 8 May 10 10:00 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/26526/20100508/

Sweden breached the rights of an Egyptian man when it deported him to his home country where he was later tortured, the United Nations Committee on Torture ruled on Friday.

"The committee has found that... the guarantees given by Egypt were not enough to assure that Mr. Ahmed Agiza was not at risk of torture," the committee said in a statement from Geneva.

The committee had already condemned Sweden in 2005 for having expelled Agiza despite international laws that governments should not send suspects to countries where they are likely to be tortured.

The Egyptian was deported in December 2001 along with another man, Mohammed Alzery. Both were asylum seekers and suspected of involvement in an extremist
organisation linked to the Al-Qaeda network.

After Sweden's intelligence agency Säpo ordered that both men be expelled, they were handed over to US agents, put on a plane leased by the Pentagon and flown to Egypt.

The pair claimed they were mistreated during their transfer to Cairo and then tortured during their detention in Egypt.

In Egypt, Agiza received a 25-year prison sentence for terrorism which was later reduced to 15 years. Zery was freed by an Egyptian military court.

Sweden agreed in July 2008 to pay more than €300,000 (then $470,000) to Zery after admitting that he was wrongly expelled.

AFP/The Local (news@thelocal.se)

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14:26 May 8, 2010 by Marko2010S
"were handed over to US agents, put on a plane leased by the Pentagon"

Sweden worships America's shoes!
15:34 May 8, 2010 by here for the summer
The UN is so wrong here. If the guy was tortured too bad but if he is a terrorist it is better he is in Egypt than living in Sweden bombing Sweden or the US. The answer is simple don't belong to terrorist organizations or commit other criminal acts.
20:55 May 8, 2010 by wenddiver
So it's Swedens fault that this idiot decided to take part in a war against his own country, the US and the civilized world???????? The UN is a worthless breeding ground for every terrorist group in the world. Hopefully the Egyptian military gets all these people.
21:12 May 8, 2010 by geekgirl
@Marko2010S

That's OK.. because so does Egypt, which happily does their dirty work for 'em.
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