COURT
Denmark won’t extradite child porn suspect
Lithuanian officials want to see a Danish man brought to justice, but a Danish judge has denied the request.
Published: 9 July 2014 14:04 CEST
A Glostrup judge sided with the man's lawyer that an extradition to Lithuania could lead to torture. Photo: Colourbox
A judge in Glostrup on Tuesday refused to extradite a Danish citizen to Lithuania to face child pornography charges.
The District Court of Glostrup’s decision came despite the justice ministry's stance that it would not stand in the way of the man’s extradition, according to Ritzau.
The man’s lawyer, Bjørn Elmquist, successfully argued that sending the Dane to Lithuania would put him in danger.
“I presented a valid argument that extradition would go against Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits extradition to countries where there is a risk of torture,” Elmquist told Ritzau.
The Danish owns a business in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius and has lived there for years.
Lithuanian police arrested the man last summer, saying that he possessed child pornography in his Vilnius home. After being released from the Lithuanian prison Lukiskes, the man fled home to Denmark.
According to Ritzau, the man was also found guilty of rape by a Lithuanian court, but the Lithuanians are seeking extraction only on the child pornography charge.
It is expected that the extradition request will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court (Højesteret).
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