CYPRUS: Egyptian hijacker is extradited to Cairo after legal battle

Cypriot authorities said on Sunday that an Egyptian man who hijacked a plane and diverted it to the Mediterranean island in 2016 has been handed over to Cairo ending a two-year extradition battle.

The Cyprus News Agency quoting Cypriot police sources said that Seif Al Din Mohamed Mostafa, 61, was handed over to Egyptian officials at Larnaca airport on Saturday night so that he could be extradited to Cairo.

Egypt’s state prosecutor said was handed over to an Egyptian Interpol team after Cairo provided assurances that he would face legal proceedings that conform to international standards.

Cyprus Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou told The Associated Press that Mustafa’s extradition went ahead after he dropped a three-year court battle to avoid extradition.

Cyprus had delayed his extradition, so the European Court of Human Rights could review his case.

Defence lawyers had appealed to the ECHR after the Cypriot supreme court dismissed Mostafa's appeal against extradition last year.

Mostafa is accused of using a fake suicide belt to seize the EgyptAir plane from Alexandria to Cairo in March 2016 and redirect it to Cyprus.

The hijacking ended peacefully with his arrest and the release of the 55 passengers after a six-hour standoff.

Egypt requested that Mostafa be extradited to face trial under a 1996 bilateral agreement.

It was argued that he should not be extradited because he would not receive a fair trial and there was a possibility he could be tortured.

Last year the lower court said it had no reason to doubt assurances given by the Egyptian authorities that Mostafa's human rights would be respected.

During that hearing Mostafa described himself as a liberal who wanted democracy for an Egyptian people subjected to "abductions, disappearance, illegal detention and extrajudicial killings".

Mostafa said his motive for hijacking the domestic Egyptian flight was to seek asylum in Italy and tell the world about the "repressive" Egyptian government.