Slovakia’s Migration Office again denies asylum to Algerian citizen

Mustafa Labsi from Algeria has failed again with an application for asylum in Slovakia. “The Interior Ministry's Migration Office decided not to grant asylum to Labsi. The reason for this is that he failed to meet conditions set by the law,” Interior Ministry spokesman Erik Tomáš told the SITA newswire. Labsi's lawyer Martin Škamla confirmed for SITA they would definitely appeal the decision.

• This case has taken several turns since 2006. The Bratislava Regional Court agreed in February 2009 with a motion filed by Labsi, an alleged Algerian terrorist, against the Migration Office which had previously turned down his asylum application. The court cancelled the Migration Office’s decision and returned it for further proceedings.
• The judge in that case explained his decision was based on the fact that the office failed to secure sufficient information from Labsi’s home country and pointed to the fact that the Migration Office had not secured sufficient evidence, such as reasons why he should not be granted asylum. The decision must be clear and unambiguous, added the judge.
• Following the February trial, Labsi stated that “this is the victory of democracy, there is democracy in Europe, which there is not in Algeria; I am not a terrorist.”
• The Bratislava Regional Court decided in November 2007 that Labsi would be extradited to Algeria. However, Labsi appealed the verdict and last year, Slovakia’s Supreme Court confirmed the Regional Court’s verdict. The Algerian then turned to the Constitutional Court. In his appeal Labsi stated that he would face the threat of torture if he was returned to Algeria. In June 2008 the Constitutional Court’s Senate cancelled the Supreme Court’s verdict, as it would have violated Labsi’s basic rights. He then asked for asylum for a second time and it has now been refused again.