Danish arms smuggler can’t be extradited to India because of ’real risk’, says court

A Danish court rejected India's request for the extradition of a Danish national who was allegedly involved in a 1995 arms smuggling case. According to AFP, the court said Thursday that the Danish arms smuggler could not be extradited to India. It cited the risk that his rights would be violated.

India seeks extradition

For several years, India has been seeking the extradition of Niels Holck to face trial.

The Danish national, Niels Holck (62) had confessed to parachuting four tonnes of weapons into West Bengal to help locals fight government authorities, AFP reported. He had admitted that he was part of a group of seven individuals who smuggled weapons into West Bengal aboard a Russian cargo plane on the night of December 17, 1995.

Holck was arrested in Denmark in April 2010 after Danish authorities reached a deal with India over the terms of his extradition, including a promise that he would not be given the death penalty and would serve any sentence in Denmark. But a Danish district court in 2011 overturned the authorities' decision, saying he risked mistreatment in India.

Why was extradition request rejected?

The court ruled that sending Holck to India would violate Denmark's extradition act due to a risk that he would be subjected to treatment in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, AFP said the Hillerod district court ruled that Holck should not be extradited because there was a "real risk" that he would be "subjected to treatment in India that violates Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights", which prohibits torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The court noted this was the case despite diplomatic assurances from India that Holck would be housed in a special detention centre during the criminal proceedings in India.

India had said the detention centre would be set up to house only Holck and he could be accompanied by Danish police officers acting as observers.

The case

The Purulia Arms Drop was an illegal arms drop that happened on December 17, 1995 in the Purulia district of West Bengal. The arms were dropped from an Antonov An-26 aircraft before being intercepted by an Indian Air Force aircraft.

Five Latvian citizens and Peter Bleach, a British citizen and an ex-Special Air Service officer were arrested, while the organizer 'Kim Davy' alias Niels Christian managed to escape.

India first asked Denmark to extradite Holck in 2002. The government agreed, but two Danish courts rejected his extradition, saying he would risk torture or other inhumane treatment in India.

In June 2023, Denmark again looked into a 2016 Indian extradition request, saying that the requirements in the extradition act had been met.

(With inputs from agencies)