The Guardian said that British engineer Brian Glendinning, who is being held in Iraq, could be sent to Qatar for not paying back a bank loan.
On September 12, Glendinning was arrested at the Baghdad airport because he was on a “red notice” from Interpol. He has been in a police cell ever since, waiting for an extradition hearing.
When he was arrested, the 43-year-old father of three was told that Qatar had sent an Interpol notice because he didn’t pay back a loan he took out in 2018 while working in the Gulf state. According to his family, the loan was for £20,000 ($22,124).
Glendinning’s wife, Kimberly, told the Guardian that her husband had been sick at Christmas and lost his job in Scotland, which made it hard for him to pay back his loan. She insists, though, that he was still sending monthly payments to the Qatar National Bank and talking to them regularly.
The Guardian says that the Qatari government has not yet asked to extradite anyone. The general rule is that an extradition request must be made within 45 days of an arrest. However, Iraq does not follow this rule. In this case, Glendinning is in danger of being held in Baghdad for a long time.
Radha Stirling, who started an NGO called IPEX that works to change Interpol and its extradition process, said that Qatar was abusing Interpol. She said that victims’ families were often forced to pay more than what was owed in order to keep their loved ones from going to jail for a long time.
“We will do everything we can diplomatically and legally to keep Brian from being sent to prison. “Qatar is being a pain and costing taxpayers a lot of money,” said Stirling.
“We’ve helped Brits who were arrested in places like Spain, the Czech Republic, Italy, Denmark, Ukraine, and so on, because of an Interpol notice from Qatar. Police and court time is expensive, and the victim can be held unfairly while the case is going on,” Stirling said.
As Qatar gets ready to host 1.2 million people for the World Cup, which starts on November 20, Sterling warned traveling football fans that the Qatari government could use small mistakes as an excuse to punish visitors after the tournament is over.
“It’s a problem with human rights, and it shows how close Qatar is with Interpol. “With the World Cup coming up, Qatar should be aware of attacks on the rights of people from other countries,” Sterling said.
Source: Arab News