High Court orders surrender of man to Dutch authorities

A Dutch man arrested in Dublin during a Garda swoop on an alleged Kinahan gang property has had his surrender to Dutch authorities ordered by the High Court.

Naoufal Fassih (36), a Dutch citizen of Moroccan origin, is being sought in the Netherlands to face allegations of attempted murder, assault, possession of false documents and money-laundering, as well as for an alleged money-laundering offence in Ireland.

The Amsterdam Public Prosecutor issued three European Arrest Warrants in respect of Mr Fassih on various dates last year.

He was arrested by gardaí­ at an apartment believed to belong to the international Kinahan crime gang on Dublin’s Baggot Street in April last year, and High Court extradition proceedings have been ongoing since then.

In the High Court on Thursday, Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly ordered the surrender of Mr Fassih to Dutch authorities on each of the three European Arrest Warrants.

Ms Justice Donnelly said she had considered all of the points of objection raised by Mr Fassih’s lawyers and was “quite satisfied to reject them all”.

Legal costs

She awarded legal costs against Mr Fassih on foot of an application by Ronan Kennedy, counsel for the Minister for Justice.

Ms Justice Donnelly said the State should only be entitled to one day’s worth of costs because matters had been “staggered” for a period of time.

Mr Fassih made no reaction when the judgment was delivered.

Mr Kennedy, for the State, said the first alleged offence relates to a violent assault at a Dutch nightclub on October 5th, 2012.

The second charge relates to more than €10,000 in cash that Mr Fassih had on him when he was arrested in 2012. Mr Fassih was on social welfare at the time and refused to explain to the Amsterdam police how he could be in possession of such a sum.

The third charge alleges that he was in possession of a false passport.

The warrant for the attempted murder charge was issued last September and relates to a botched assassination on November 5th, 2015. The Dutch authorities suspect that he allegedly paid €8,000 to the would-be assassin and gave instructions on how to carry out the killing.

Another European Arrest Warrant was issued after Mr Fassih’s arrest in Dublin. Mr Kennedy said Mr Fassih was in possession of luxury watches worth over €40,000, cash, mobile phones and “other items that can be linked to criminality”. Although the seizure was made in Dublin, Dutch authorities said they can adjudicate on Dutch citizens accused of crimes committed in other jurisdictions.

Extradition

Mr Fassih’s barrister, John Byrne, argued there was no evidence linking his client to the items seized at the Dublin apartment other than that he was present when the raid took place. He argued Mr Fassih could not be prosecuted in Ireland in those circumstances and therefore should not face extradition to the Netherlands on those grounds.

Furthermore, the fact Mr Fassih had already been acquitted on the assault charge meant the “precise nature” of the proceedings against him were not known, Mr Byrne argued.

Mr Byrne said the allegation in relation to the false passport is merely that he is a suspect in a crime but the authorities have not decided whether to prosecute. This, he said, would be insufficient grounds for an extradition.

On the attempted murder charge, he said it was not clear from the warrant what the specific charge against Mr Fassih would be, as it was not alleged that he was the hitman.

Ms Justice Donnelly said Mr Fassih’s surrender was not prohibited on any of the points raised by Mr Byrne.