The Spanish National Court (SNC), or Audiencia Nacional, located in Madrid held its first hearing Thursday to consider Egypt’s demand to extradite Khaled Salem, son of Hussein Salem, who faces charges of money laundering.
A Spanish legal source told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the prosecution supports Egypt’s demand and that the hearing was attended by an Egyptian legal delegation and a representative from the law firm representing Egypt.
The prosecutor said during Thursday’s session that the prosecution has met all the legal requirements and based its case on evidence and investigations that support the money laundering charges.
The source added the court will issue its decision within days, but it did not specify a date.
Salem's defense told the court that he is a Spanish citizen and should not be handed over to Egypt because the nation has been unstable since the 25 January revolution, and does not conduct fair trials or respect human rights.
Representatives for the Egypt refuted these allegations. The source added that the law firm representing Egypt responded by saying that while the defendant holds Spanish nationality, he is an Egyptian citizen and holds both Spanish and Egyptian passports, thus he must be tried in front of an Egyptian court.
Another judicial circuit will review on 9 February Egypt’s demand to extradite Hussein Salem.
Assem al-Gohary of the Illicit Gains Authority said that Egypt has pledged to deal with Spain on the basis of the reciprocity principle regarding the deportation of criminal suspects as the two countries do not have a treaty regarding extradition.
