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Czech Republic court decides to extradite Indian national accused of attempting to assassinate Sikh separatist to US – JURIST

A Czech appeals court has ruled that Prague can extradite to the United States an Indian man accused by the US of involvement in an unsuccessful plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil, according to the Czech news website Seznam Zprávy.The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced their indictment of Nikhil Gupta, the would-be assassin, in November 2023. According to the DOJ, Gupta paid an undercover US agent to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an Indian political activist who lives in New York. Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June 2023 at the request of the US. Gupta was an Indian government employee, and the DOJ alleged Gupta’s assassination attempt was funded by an Indian government agency.The Czech High Court rejected the notion that India’s government financed Gupta’s assassination attempts, claiming “It is absurd to think that a state that presents itself as democratic and governed by the legal order and international treaties would choose such means as the murder of a citizen of another state on its territory to solve its problems and in time of peace.” However, the High Court still ruled to extradite Gupta. Gupta’s lawyers said they will appeal the decision to the Czech Republic’s Constitutional Court.Pannun is an advocate for the seccession of India’s Punjab state and the creation of a majority-Sikh state Khalistan and is considered a terrorist by the Government of India. Gupta’s counsel claimed Pannun “threatens the security of the Republic of India and is a comparable threat to it as Osama bin Laden was to the USA.” Following the assassination of a Sikh activist in Canada, human rights organizations and Canada called on India to investigate claims that India’s government was connected to assassinations of pro-Khalistan activists in western nations in late 2023.India’s Supreme Court previously dismissed a petition to release Gupta from detention in the Czech Republic in early January.