Murat Catulay is accused by Turkey of being a terrorist.
German Kurd Murat Catulay returned on Tuesday evening by plane from Croatia to Cologne in Germany after he was arrested last month near Omiš. He is accused by Turkey of being a terrorist, reports Novi List on August 24, 2016.
Catulay, who was at the time of his arrest on vacation with his family, was taken from the Split prison to the Zagreb Airport, where he was met by his father, nephew, sister and brother-in-law. Afterwards, the German Kurd boarded a plane to Cologne, a city where he lives with his wife and two sons aged 11 and 13.
“Given that our client is no longer held in a Croatian prison, I will ask the Split County Court to suspend proceedings against him. Murat Catulay is a free person. The decision to release him is final”, said his attorney Edvard Sušac.
Catulay has been living in Germany for the last 25 years, where he has married and has children. He applied for political asylum and received German citizenship. Croatian police arrested him based on an Interpol arrest warrant after it was discovered that he and his family were on vacation in Kostanje near Omiš. Since Turkey did not sent a request for his extradition with supporting documents within the legal deadline, Catulay was released by a decision of an investigative judge of the County Court. His family has booked a plane ticket for a direct flight to Cologne because they feared that, given that an international warrant against him still existed, he could again be arrested in Slovenia or Austria.
Five years ago, Turkey has charged him with terrorism and participation in terrorist activities of the TIKKO organization, which is a military wing of the Communist Party of Turkey. He did not accept the extradition to Turkey.
After he was arrested, various Kurdish organizations appealed to Croatia to release him.
