AMSTERDAM: An Eritrean man alleged to be a people-smuggling kingpin was extradited Wednesday to the Netherlands by the UAE, paving the way for trial in a Dutch court.
The 41-year-old Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam had been on an international wanted list since 2021 after fleeing while on trial in Ethiopia, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service said in a statement. He was flown to Amsterdam accompanied by Dutch military police.
He is wanted in the Netherlands for crimes including participating in a criminal organization involved in migrant-smuggling, hostage-taking, extortion and violence, including sexual violence.
His case is linked to that of another Eritrean man, Tewelde Goitom, whose trial opened in a Dutch court last month. Prosecutors have sought a 20-year sentence.
Goitom’s defense lawyers want to interview Habtemariam as a witness in their client’s case. It is one of the largest human-smuggling cases ever brought in the Netherlands, prosecutors said.
Goitom told judges he is a victim of mistaken identity. He was extradited to the Netherlands in 2022 from Ethiopia, where he was convicted of similar crimes.
Habtemariam was arrested in Sudan in 2023 following an international manhunt led by the UAE. He is scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Saturday.
In a statement, the Dutch prosecution service alleged that the two Eritreans “worked together and earned large sums of money by assaulting and extorting primarily Eritrean migrants. The assault took place in Libya, and the extortion of family members took place in the Netherlands.”
Habtemariam was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment after escaping from custody in Ethiopia while on trial on people-smuggling charges.
Libya in recent years has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants seeking a better life in Europe. The oil-rich country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed autocrat Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. Human traffickers have benefited from the chaos, smuggling migrants across the country’s land borders with six nations.