Jakarta. A top Indonesian official said Wednesday there was an extremely slim chance for the Palestinian Interpol fugitive Abdul Karim Raed Miqdad to face Israeli extradition, citing that Cyprus would break Interpol principles by doing so.

Indonesia recently deported Miqdad to Cyprus based on a Nicosia-issued Red Notice, an alert for international fugitives. His arrest was linked to terrorism-related offenses in Cyprus. Miqdad’s swift deportation —  which occurred in under 24 hours since the arrest — had sparked an uproar. A Geneva-based human rights group even warned that Miqdad could face Israeli custody. Senior law minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra dismissed such concerns.

“A country may ask Interpol to issue a Red Notice. If this gets fulfilled, the [requesting] country must not hand over the individual in question to a third country. These principles are all on the Interpol statute,” Yusril told a press briefing in Jakarta.

“There is little to no chance of Cyprus handing over [Miqdad] to Israel. This would harm  Cyprus’s credibility.”

Yusril at the time had just met Cypriot ambassador Nicholas Panayiotou, who had “guaranteed” that there would be no such transfers. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry will also pen a diplomatic note to make sure Nicosia keeps its promise.

According to Yusril, the Indonesian police had been in contact with its Cypriot counterpart since May of this year, a month before the red notice came out, denying claims that the arrest was abrupt. Based on communications with the Palestinian embassy, Miqdad is neither a Gaza humanitarian activist nor a Muslim scholar or ulema, as the reports say. The 41-year-old man had been staying in Indonesia over the past three years, although he had traveled overseas from time to time.

“He was doing business here,” Yusril said.

Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation and has long kept a pro-Palestinian stance, a sentiment that extends to the grassroots level. Yusril told the public to rest assured that the case of an individual had nothing to do with Jakarta’s commitment to Palestinian independence.

The Geneva Council for Rights and Liberties had previously flagged the vague legal basis for the proceedings on Miqdad. The group claimed that the official documents it had reviewed lacked a clear explanation of what Miqdad had done. Yusril, too, refused to comment when asked about Miqdad’s crime.

“We have no right to explain what sort of offense he has committed. That’s something for the Cypriot government. I can only speak in general terms ... that it falls under transnational organized crime,” Yusril say.

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