STOCKHOLM/CAIRO: The Swedish government revoked last week its decision to extradite Egyptian citizen Ahmed Agiza. Back in 2001, Agiza was deported to Egypt with the help of the US secret service where he was allegedly subject to torture. The decision came only months after the Swedish authorities revoked the extradition of Egyptian Mohamed Al-Zery in March of this year, who was deported together with Agiza, from Sweden's Bromma airfield in late December 2001. The case of the two Egyptian asylum-seekers has been cited by critics and rights groups as a "prime example of the controversial US-led practice extraordinary rendition - the extrajudicial transfer of terrorist suspects from one state to another for interrogation, where the suspect is often subject to torture due to dubious human rights records of the states to which they are transferred. Agiza, who is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence in Tora prison for having connections with the Islamic Jihad and Al-Qaeda, will now be eligible to seek both punitive damages from the Swedish government as well as Swedish residency. "This is a very important decision for Ahmed Agiza and his family, who for a long time have been waiting to receive a response from the Swedish government concerning the humiliations that have been committed in this case, Agiza's lawyer Anna Wigenmark at the Swedish Helsinki Committee stated in a recent press release. That, however, can prove a difficult task as Sweden's High Court of Migration last week denied Al-Zery's application for Swedish residency based on arguments from the Swedish secret police that he constitutes a "safety risk to the nation. According to Wigenmark, no details concerning the evaluation of Al-Zery's status have been provided to the defense from the Swedish intelligence service Sapo. "We have not had access to any evidence or investigative results involved in this decision. The Swedish intelligence argues that Al-Zery has formerly been a member of an organization that has terrorist connections and that he supposedly served a leading role in that organization. No evidence proving these accusations has been granted to the defense team, Wigenmark told The Daily Star Egypt in an email interview. Furthermore, Wigenmark stressed that the Swedish Migration Board failed to conduct a proper investigation into Al-Zery's case and simply relied on information provided by Swedish intelligence. The defense team is reportedly appealing the decision and is also demanding financial compensation from the Swedish authorities. Al-Zery was never charged with a crime in Egypt and was released in 2003. The Egyptian authorities have allegedly prohibited him from leaving the village where he lives. "It is strange that Swedish intelligence has not reevaluated Al-Zery's case since he has never been charged with a crime in Egypt. Being a leading member of a terrorist organization would be a serious crime under Egyptian law as far as I know, Wigenmark said. In Agiza's case, Wigenmark said that the chances are "equally high that he will be denied Swedish residency due to previous accusations of having terrorist connections. "It is extremely problematic for the defense team handling these cases since we have no access to information from the Swedish intelligence. Previous safety concerns of the intelligence remain in force for a long time and they are hard to change, Wigenmark said. Joakim Vierka from the Swedish embassy in Cairo told The Daily Star Egypt that "it will again be completely up to the Court of Migration in Sweden to determine Agiza's case. Agiza has not yet handed in any applications to my knowledge, he added. When asked whether the fact that Agiza's wife and children live in Sweden will play a significant role in the court's decision, Vierka stated that "it is something the Court of Migration of course will take into consideration when deciding the case. Wigenmark argued that Agiza's wife Hanan Attia is "very happy and content with the decision and now hopes that the family can be reunited. Transferred to military tribunal under Egypt's emergency law where he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2004, Agiza has continuously demanded to be retried before a civil court; a request he has not received a response on so far. According to Wigenmark, only the Egyptian president can grant Agiza a new trial in a civil court; a process that requires "strong pressure from the international community and the Swedish government in particular, as she puts it. The decision of the Swedish government to extradite the two Egyptians based on diplomatic assurances from Egyptian authorities in 2001 was a hard blow to the northern European kingdom which previously enjoyed an almost spotless human rights record. In addition to facing strong criticism from human rights groups around the world, the Swedish government was in May 2005 found guilty of violating the international convention against torture by the UN Committee Against Torture for its decision to deport Al-Zery and Agiza to their homeland, where the men claimed they were subject to torture. "Sweden should have known that Egypt consistently tortures detainees, the UN Committee stated in its decision. While the Swedish government argued that it had been given assurances that Ahmed Agiza would be treated fairly, Agiza s family stress that he was tortured while in Egyptian detainment. Tarek Zaghoul from the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) told The Daily Star Egypt that Agiza was subject to torture during his transfer from Sweden to Egypt and during the time in Egyptian detainment awaiting his trial. Vierka stressed that Agiza receives regular visits in prison from Swedish officials in Egypt "ever since they found out about the case and that Agiza has not been subject to torture since that time. "We have visited Agiza in Tora every six weeks for the past five years now. In my opinion, Agiza is in good condition except for the fact that he is suffering from a chronic physical illness for which he receives treatment, Vierka told The Daily Star Egypt.
