NICOSIA: The Cypriot ex-wife of an Egyptian who hijacked a plane to Cyprus and is fighting extradition on Friday denied his claims of being a political activist and portrayed him as a common criminal.
Marina Paraschou was called to testify in a Nicosia court by the state as it seeks to have Seif Al-Din Mohamed Mostafa, 58, extradited to Egypt, which has requested he face trial under a bilateral agreement.
State counsel is trying to discredit claims by the defense that as a known political activist Mostafa would not receive a fair trial in Cairo for the hijacking in March.
Paraschou said Mostafa had never belonged to any opposition group in Egypt or been convicted for his political beliefs, despite spells behind bars in different Arab states.
“He was jailed in Egypt for being an army deserter and was convicted for passport forgery... and stealing a car,” Paraschou told the court.
During the two-hour hearing, which was adjourned until June 22, Mostafa locked his gaze on his ex-wife with a wry smile while she avoided any eye contact.
Mostafa had deserted the Egyptian army in the 1980s to join the Palestine Liberation Organization in Beirut, she said, before moving in 1983 to Cyprus where the couple met and had four children.
According to Paraschou, he had never taken part in any anti-regime protests in Egypt or faced harassment by Egyptian authorities for being a political activist, Paraskou said.
The couple were together from 1983 to 1992, before Paraschou left her husband and divorced him in 1994.
Mostafa spent all but one of their nine years as a couple behind bars, serving jail stints in Egypt, Yemen and Syria, she said.
The 58-year-old Egyptian man is accused of using a fake suicide belt to seize the plane flying from Alexandria in northern Egypt to Cairo and divert it to the Mediterranean island on March 29.
According to police, Mostafa voluntarily admitted to the hijacking that ended peacefully with his arrest and the release unharmed of the 55 passengers after a six-hour standoff.
His lawyer Robertos Vrahimi has argued that the hijacker’s motive was to draw attention to injustices in his homeland.
Mostafa is fighting his extradition, arguing he could be tortured or face the death penalty if sent back to Egypt.
His request for asylum has been refused as Cypriot authorities deem him a “perpetrator of serious crimes.”
The Cypriot justice ministry says Egypt has given assurances of a fair trial.
Ex-wife in Cyprus denies EgyptAir hijacker’s activist claim
Ex-wife in Cyprus denies EgyptAir hijacker’s activist claim
Machado seeks Pope Leo’s support for Venezuela’s transition during Vatican meeting
- Machado is touring Europe and the United States after escaping Venezuela in early 2025
- The pope called for Venezuela to remain independent following the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro by US forces
ROME: Pope Leo XIV met with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado in a private audience at the Vatican on Monday, during which the Venezuelan leader asked him to intercede for the release of hundreds of political prisoners held in the Latin American country.
The meeting, which hadn’t been previously included in the list of Leo’s planned appointments, was later listed by the Vatican in its daily bulletin, without adding details.
Machado is touring Europe and the United States after she reemerged in December after 11 months in hiding to accept her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway.
“Today I had the blessing and honor of being able to share with His Holiness and express our gratitude for his continued support of what is happening in our country,” Machado said in a statement following the meeting.
“I also conveyed to him the strength of the Venezuelan people who remain steadfast and in prayer for the freedom of Venezuela, and I asked him to intercede for all Venezuelans who remain kidnapped and disappeared,” she added.
Machado also held talks with Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, who was Nuncio in Venezuela from 2009 to 2013.
Pope Leo has called for Venezuela to remain an independent country after US forces captured former President Nicolás Maduro in his compound in Caracas and took him to New York to face federal charges of drug-trafficking.
Leo had said he was following the developments in Venezuela with “deep concern,” and urged the protection of human and civil rights in the Latin American country.
Venezuela’s opposition, backed by consecutive Republican and Democratic administrations in the US, had vowed for years to immediately replace Maduro with one of their own and restore democracy to the oil-rich country. But US President Donald Trump delivered them a heavy blow by allowing Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, to assume control.
Meanwhile, most opposition leaders, including Machado, are in exile or prison.
After winning the 2025 Nobel Prize for Peace, Machado said she’d like to give it to or share with Trump.
Machado dedicated the prize to Trump, along with the people of Venezuela, shortly after it was announced. Trump has coveted and openly campaigned for winning the Nobel Prize himself since his return to office in January 2025.
The organization that oversees the Nobel Peace Prize — the Norwegian Nobel Institute — said, however, that once it’s announced, the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.
“The decision is final and stands for all time,” it said in a short statement last week.
