Arrest
Mustapha Labsi was arrested in February 2001.
He was detained in Belmarsh prison for three months for alleged links with a German terrorist cell, but these charges were dropped.
Extradition
However, before he could leave Belmarsh, he was re-arrested in connection with an extradition order from France.
Torture
In December 2005, he was extradited to France and held in a prison that had been condemned as unfit for human habitation. He was denied contact with his family and faced abusive treatment.
Labsi was in considerable ill-health and, as result of his sufferings, developed a bleeding ulcer that caused him to lose a litre and half of blood each week.
Furthermore, Labsi’s wife has suffered psychologically as a result of her husband’s detention – her difficulties were exacerbated by her pregnancy at the time.
In April 2006, he was released and travelled to Slovakia to see his family, where he applied for asylum.
Deportation
He was arrested and in August 2006 was transferred to Austria, where he was moved from prison to prison until he was deported back to Slovakia in May 2007.
He had been fighting extradition to Algeria, where in his absence he has been convicted and given a life sentence.
Condition
In June 2009, Labsi lost his asylum appeal in Slovakia and will now appeal against the decision again.
Mustapha Labsi’s family have also greatly suffered throughout this ordeal. Unable to take care of her child due to the psychological trauma of the detention, Labsi’s daughter was taken away from his wife. Labsi’s wife has disappeared from a psychiatric hospital. It is still not known where she is.
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