An alleged child rapist is fighting extradition to Cyprus – claiming the island he visited on holiday is too dangerous.
KIDNAPPING AND ASSAULT
Mohammed Latifi, 19, had flown to Ayia Napa last year before he ‘kidnapped‘ a 13-year-old he met on a beach.
He allegedly launched an assault that left the girl crying in pain before she escaped.
WHAT IS THE SITUATION NOW?
Now he is fighting extradition back to Cyprus claiming ‘his life will be in danger’ from its Turkish community, as he is a Kurd.
District judge Jo Matson rejected Latifi’s claim, saying: ‘I do not accept this is the case. If it were, why on earth would he have travelled on holiday there?’
COURT RULING
Judge Matson granted the extradition request from Famagusta District Court in Cyprus.
But Latifi was granted bail while he appeals – and has been seen living free in Leeds while wearing a tag.
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The judgment says Latifi is an Iraqi Kurd whose family moved to Iran when he was a child.
The judge added: ‘He arrived in the UK in 2017, unaccompanied, as an illegal immigrant transported in a lorry. He has been given five years’ leave to remain in the UK having been granted political asylum from Iran.’
Latifi was accommodated by Leeds social services while at senior school, before moving in to a house in the city with his elder sister and younger brother.
His parents are said to be living ‘undocumented’ in Iraq, though a neighbour said the father had been seen at the sister’s property. Latifi was last year working as a barber, and the court was told he was receiving universal credit while studying.
