Georgia-Detained Turkish College Manager’s Wife Addresses Justice Minister

Tuba Cabuk, wife of Georgia-detained Turkish Demirel College Manager Mustafa Emre Cabuk, has sent an open letter to Georgian Justice Minister, Thea Tsulukiani, asking not to extradite her husband to Turkey.

Waiting for the final verdict over her husband’s case, Tuba Cabuk hopes the innocence of Mustafa will be proved.

“I hope the Justice Minister will make a fair decision and will not hand my husband over to the Turkish side… She can reunite our family,” she added.

Tuba Cabuk explains in her letter what awaits her husband in case he is extradited.

“Everyone knows what the situation is in Turkey in terms of human rights. I do hope my husband will be released,” the wife of the Demirel College Manager stated.

Mustafa Emre Chabuk remains in pre-extradition imprisonment until February 19. If Tbilisi City Court decides Cabuk must be transferred to Turkey, the defense will appeal the decision at the Supreme Court. In case the Supreme Court upholds the decision of the lower instance court, the Justice Minister is the only person who can suspend the extradition of Mustafa Emre Cabuk.

Cabuk’s Lawyer, Vakhtang Kvizhinadze, says if Georgia decides to hand his client over to Turkey, they will apply to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and ask for suspension of the verdict.

Mustafa Emre Cabuk was arrested in Georgia on May 24 upon charges of having links to the organization FETO, registered in the United States, and being associated with Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of orchestrating a military coup attempt in Turkey on 15 July, 2016. 

Georgia’s Ministry of Refugees turned down the request of granting the Turkish citizen and his family refugee status, which was followed by a protest from non-governmental sector and opposition parties.

On January, 21 Georgian NGO’s signed a joint statement addressing the President of Georgia, with a request to grant refugee status to Mustafa Cabuk.

Sozar Subari, Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia, has stated that under the guarantee received from the Turkish side, in case Cabuk is extradited, he will be placed in the penitential institution which is in accordance to the standards of European Convention of the Human Rights. 

By Thea Morrison