According to the Justice Ministry, the Czech appeals court has approved the extradition of Nikhil Gupta to the United States. Gupta, a 52-year-old Indian man, is accused by U.S. federal prosecutors of involvement in a failed plot to kill a Sikh separatist in America.
Once the ruling is delivered to all parties involved, Justice Minister Pavel Blazek will make the final decision regarding Gupta’s extradition.
The allegations against Gupta involve claims that he collaborated with an Indian government official to orchestrate the murder of a New York City resident who advocated for a sovereign Sikh state in northern India.
Gupta was detained by Czech authorities in Prague last June when he arrived from India.
Reported by Czech news website www.seznamzpravy.cz, Gupta has maintained that there has been a case of mistaken identity and that he is not the person the United States is seeking. He has also asserted that the case is politically motivated.
It is uncertain how long it will take for Minister Blazek to make a decision, as Gupta is expected to exhaust all options in an effort to prevent extradition.
If the minister has doubts about the lower court’s decisions, he has the option to turn to the Supreme Court within three months.
Gupta previously attempted to appeal the extradition decision made in December by a lower court, but his appeal was rejected by the Prague High Court.
The Prague High Court spokesperson declined to provide immediate comment on the matter.
Notably, the Czech Republic has previously honored extradition requests from the United States.
As of now, there has been no comment from Gupta’s lawyer, but the Czech news website quoted the lawyer as stating that they will implore the minister not to extradite Gupta and will also take the case to the Constitutional Court.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
