Pannun murder plot: Czech court rules Indian man can be extradited to US
Pannun murder plot: The US accused Nikhil Gupta of cooperating with an Indian government official in the abortive attempt to assassinate Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The justice ministry said on Friday that the Prague High Court has decided that the Czech Republic can extradite Nikhil Gupta to the US. Gupta is an Indian national who the US claims was involved in an abortive attempt to kill Khalistani rebel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on US soil.
In an indictment that was made public in November of last year, US prosecutors in New York accused 52-year-old Nikhil Gupta of conspiring with an Indian government official to carry out the abortive plan to assassinate Pannun, who is dual US and Canadian citizen. On June 30, 2023, Gupta was detained in Prague, Czech Republic, and is still detained there. His extradition to the US is being sought by the US government.
All case files will be turned over to the Ministry of Justice upon the delivery of the court’s ruling to each party. A representative for the Czech justice ministry, Vladimir Şepka, stated that Minister of Justice Pavel Blažek will make the decision later on whether or not to permit Mr. Gupta’s extradition to the United States.
According to the spokesman, the minister of justice has three months from the day the matter was presented to the ministry to request a review of the Supreme Court’s decision if he is unsure about the accuracy of the court’s ruling in a particular case. The spokesperson went on to say that it is premature to predict when the minister will make a decision.. Şepka stated, “It is expected that the requested party (Gupta) will employ every resource at its disposal to thwart extradition.” Gupta said his identification was false and that he was not the individual the US was seeking, according to the Czech news website www.seznamzpravy.cz, which broke the story of the appeals ruling initially. According to the website, he called the case politicized.According to news agency Reuters, Gupta’s appeal against a lower court’s December ruling allowing extradition was denied by the Prague high court. It further stated that a Prague High Court representative declined to respond right away. Gupta’s attorney was cited by the Czech news website as stating he would file a request with the minister to have Gupta not extradited and that he would also take the matter to the Constitutional Court.
The attorney had earlier said that Gupta was being held in the Czech Republic and was being exposed to abuses of his human rights, including prolonged periods of solitary confinement.
According to court records, Gupta last visited the US in 2017. In a January 4 motion, his lawyer Jeff Chabrowe asked the court to order federal prosecutors to produce “the defense materials relevant to its ability to defend the instant charges” in the US district court, Southern District of New York. Indian national Gupta “was last in the United States in 2017,” according to his lawyer in the motion.
SOURCE: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pannun-case-czech-republic-court-rules-nikhil-gupta-can-be-extradited-to-us-what-next-101705713350978.html
