Turkish Cypriot tycoon’s appeal based on 92-year-old mother’s health is turned down
Jailed Turkish Cypriot businessman Asil Nadir has been told he may never see his elderly mother again after his transfer application failed.
Nadir wanted to be sent to a prison in Turkey to finish serving a ten year sentence for fraud and theft of more than £30 million from his former Polly Peck empire.
Justice secretary Chris Grayling had refused the transfer because it would have meant “a huge reduction” in the 72-year-old’s jail time.
Chris Grayling, the justice secretary
Nadir is Turkish Cyprus’s most notorious convicted fraudster and has been an inmate at Belmarsh Prison in south-east London for the last two years.
Two High Court judges ruled the justice secretary was entitled to take the view that it would be wrong to let a man guilty of “notorious” criminal offences benefit from Turkish sentencing laws that could mean his immediate release once he sets foot on Turkish soil.
Nadir’s lawyer, Dinah Rose QC, had argued Mr Grayling’s refusal was unlawful and discriminatory as people convicted of worse crimes, some involving drugs and murder, had all been allowed transfers despite that resulting in considerable sentence reductions.
But Mr Justice Collins, dismissing the application to seek judicial review, said: “It is a considerable hardship, but he has brought it on himself by escaping from this country and fighting prosecution for a substantial period of time.
“That has resulted in his mother becoming more elderly and more infirm.
“If he had faced the music back in 1993 he would have been released by now.
“This was a notorious case. In all the circumstances I am entirely satisfied there is nothing unlawful in the decision made by the Secretary of State.”
WIFE DIVORCE
In December, it was reported Nadir’s wife Nur had filed for a £5million divorce, including Nadir’s four-wheel-drive vehicle and villa in North Cyprus.
Turkey and Britain had been discussing the possibility of transferring Asil Nadir under the Council of Europe Convention for several months. It was reported in February that he had paid £5 million in compensation to defrauded investors in an attempt to remove “a major obstacle” to his hopes of transfer to Turkey.
Analysts speculated his transfer could mean he is subsequently moved to his native North Cyprus, which has diplomatic relations with Turkey. The sentence there could then be converted to house arrest.
