The Paris court responsible for the consideration of the Algerian request for the extradition of Dr Mourad Dhina handed down its decision today. The court rejected the extradition request and released Mourad from detention.

The President of the trial chamber rejected the extradition request in a short deliberation, due to its lack of conformity with the 1964 extradition convention between Algeria and France and the French criminal procedure code.

This decision was expected by the majority of observers who had been present at the last hearing on 20 June, during which the inconsistencies in the case presented by Algeria, and the incoherence of its justice system were highlighted.

However, it is only after nearly six months in detention at the Santé prison in Paris, after several requests for bail were denied by the court, that the decision to release Dr Dhina was granted. The public noted that during the same hearing, a Rwandan national suspected of crimes against humanity and genocide who was the object of a similar extradition to his home country appeared before the court without being maintained in detention.