March 15, 2019
A Greek judge has refused to allow an Iranian political dissident—a woman who once worked for Prime Minister Mir-Hossain Musavi—to be extradited to Iran on drug-smuggling charges, saying she might be tortured if forced to return.
The court in the northern city of Thessaloniki ruled February 27 that the accusations brought against Farnaz Naderi-kia, 31, were a form of political and religious persecution, her Greek lawyer, Thodoris Karagiannis, said. She is a Christian convert as well as a political dissident.
Naderi-kia won asylum in Greece after entering illegally from Turkey with her husband and 11-year-old daughter.
The court said Iran’s extradition request stated Naderi-kia had been convicted of opium-smuggling. She denied that.
Greek governments have historically been the least critical of Iran within the EU and strongly oppose sanctions, mainly because Greece was able to buy crude oil from Iran under generous contracts. The decision was quite different from the one in Sweden.