The judges therefore no longer consider it „remarkably likely“ that the Tunisians, who were illegally deported to their homeland in July, are threatened with torture and inhumane treatment there. On Wednesday, the court issued a petition from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).
This diplomatic guarantee by Tunisia, which had meanwhile been received by the court, would eliminate this danger to a sufficient degree. „For the time being, there is no effective deportation ban to Tunisia until the final decision in the main proceedings,“ the court said (case 7a L 1947 / 18.A). The representation of the lawyer of Sami A., he had been tortured or inhumane treatment in Tunisia, judged the court as unbelievable. The decision of the Chamber is final.
Sami A. is said to have been bin Laden’s bodyguard
The premature repatriation of Sami A. on July 13 had caused considerable dispute between justice and politics. The day before, the Gelsenkirchen administrative court had still prohibited the deportation, the decision was the competent authorities but only delivered when Sami A. was already on the plane to Tunis. The court reprimanded the behavior of the authorities and ordered the immediate recall of Sami A.
The 1997 came to Germany as a student Tunisian is said to have temporarily belonged to the bodyguard of 2011 killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. In Germany he is said to have operated as a Salafist preacher. Sami A. had always denied the allegations. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office had initiated a criminal investigation against him, but set this in the absence of sufficient suspicion. Sami A. lived in Bochum with his wife and children before being deported.
The Federal Government had made intensive efforts to assure Tunisia that Sami A. was not threatened with torture there. This had an effect: the declaration of the Tunisian embassy was sufficiently reliable in view of the preceding intensive exchange at the highest political and diplomatic level and the interest of Tunisia in an unpolluted relationship with the Federal Republic, the court said. In addition, the interest of the media, the reputation of the man and the political explosiveness of the case encouraged the actual observance of the assurance by the Tunisian authorities.
The city of Bochum stated that it assumes that the return arrangement for Sami A. will now be lifted. To do this, the city must file an application. Another chamber of the administrative court Gelsenkirchen had – confirmed by the higher administrative court – the unlawfulness of the deportation and ordered the retrieval.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s refugee minister Joachim Stamp (FDP), whose ministry had pushed the deportation, welcomed the decision: „I am pleased about the decision,“ said Stamp on Twitter. He announced, now „further steps“ to initiate.
