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Turkey wants militant recaptured |
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Written by BBC
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Friday, 03 March 2006 03:14 |
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Belgium refused to extradite Erdal when Turkey had the death penalty
Turkey has demanded that Belgium find and extradite a convicted left-wing Turkish militant who has gone missing.
A Belgian court on Tuesday sentenced Fehriye Erdal to four years in prison for belonging to a criminal group.
She had been under house arrest, but when police went to get her after sentencing they found she had slipped through their surveillance.
"We expect her to be found and handed over to Turkey," said Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
She was on trial with 10 other defendants from the banned Turkish group DHKP-C, or the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front.
The group is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the European Union.
Belgium says its police are searching for her and it has issued an international arrest warrant for her, Reuters news agency reports.
Erdal is also wanted in Turkey for her alleged role in the assassination of a prominent Turkish businessman.
Four of the defendants were acquitted by the court in Bruges, while the other six received sentences ranging from four to six years for possession of illegal weapons and false documents.
Erdal was arrested in 1999, but Belgium refused to extradite her because at that time the death penalty was still in force in Turkey.
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