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German judge accuses authorities of 'testing limits of the law' with deportation

A GERMAN judge accused authorities yesterday of testing “the limits of the law” by deporting a suspected jihadist to Tunisia without waiting for guarantees he would not be tortured.

A man known as Sami A under German privacy rules, accused of having been an aide to al-Qaida founder Osama Bin Laden, was deported on July 13 despite a court ruling the previous evening that he should remain in Germany until Tunisian authorities offered assurances about his treatment.

The court apparently faxed the ruling to government officials who did not receive the archaic communique until he was already airborne.

Judges ordered he be brought back to Germany, prompting an appeal by the city of Bochum. North Rhine-Westphalia’s top court rejected the appeal on Wednesday.

Court chief justice Ricarda Brandts complained of “significant public pressure” to allow the deportation, including from politicians, which created “expectations” as to how the court should rule.

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