After a procedural battle that dragged on for years, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has made the decision: Nordin El H., alias Dikke Nordin, will be extradited to Belgium. Minister of Justice Paul Van Tigchelt (Open VLD) confirms this to Gazet Van Antwerpen.
Nordin El H., alias Dikke Nordin van Den Dam, is one of the most important targets of the police and the judiciary in Antwerp. The wealthy Antwerp drug criminal has been living in Dubai for years, from where he is said to have controlled his alleged drug trade. In recent years, the Antwerp judiciary has made several attempts to have Nordin extradited from the Emirates, but these attempts ultimately failed. After the judiciary had again drawn up a number of extradition files, the authorities in Dubai finally decided to extradite him.
The Court of Cassation in Dubai announced the decision last night via a press release. “The Court of Cassation in Dubai agrees to the extradition of the suspect Nourredin El H. to the Belgian authorities. The suspect is accused of drug trafficking and his extradition was requested in accordance with the extradition treaty between the United Arab Emirates and Belgium.”
“The decision follows after the suspect has exhausted all appeal options. Earlier, on December 7, 2023, the Court of Appeal in Dubai also ruled to agree to the extradition. The suspect appealed against this judgment to the Court of Cassation, which rejected the appeal and confirmed the extradition on March 6, 2024,” the press release added.
Extradition treaty
These steps underline the UAE’s commitment to working closely with international partners in the fight against international crime. The UAE and Belgium signed an extradition treaty in December 2021. The UAE completed the required amendments to its national legislation in August 2022, while Belgium did so in October 2022.
“The extradition treaty with Belgium is one of more than 45 agreements that the UAE has signed with various countries in recent years. The UAE plans to sign more agreements in this area. This is part of the efforts to strengthen cooperation in legal and judicial areas.”
Minister of Justice Paul Van Tigchelt was informed of the extradition decision. He welcomes this extradition from the United Arab Emirates to Belgium. “After signing an extradition treaty in Abu Dhabi in December 2021, we are now seeing results. We have submitted several extradition requests. There was already a first transfer in December of last year, but this now concerns an extradition that has been requested by the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office for almost four years.”
Van Tigchelt praises the efforts of all parties involved, including the Antwerp and federal public prosecutor’s office, the diplomatic services and the authorities in the UAE, who contributed to securing the extradition and emphasizes the importance of international cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking. This is also one of the priorities of the Belgian Minister of Justice during the current EU presidency.
“Persevere”
The minister emphasizes that such collaborations are a necessary and powerful signal in the fight against international drug trafficking: “Fleeed criminals cannot rest on their laurels. Wherever they are in the world, there is no impunity, the Belgian justice system will continue to hunt them down. It took a while, but persistence wins. And this will certainly not be the last extradition.”
