Lawyers: Although released, Fatih Keskin is still treated as a security threat

N1

Although he was released from the immigration centre where he was kept for two weeks, Richmond Schools principal Fatih Keskin, a Turkish national, will have to report to the authorities three times a week since he is still considered a threat to national security, Keskin’s legal team said on Tuesday.

Keskin, who has been living in Bosnia for the past 20 years, was arrested on December 3 after speaking to the police of the Una-Sana Canton in northern Bosnia. The school where he worked said he was not allowed to contact his attorney immediately.

RELATED NEWS

He will have to regularly report to the Service for Foreigner’s Affairs, which had declared Keskin a threat to Bosnia’s national security.

The institution initially annulled the principal’s residence permit, ordering him to leave the country and banning him entry for the next three years, the ‘Ademovic, Nozia and partners’ law firm said.

The Foreigner’s Affairs Service placed Keskin under surveillance at an immigration centre in East Sarajevo.

The lawyers, however, successfully appealed that decision.

Since security agencies are still treating Keskin as a security threat, “although they have not submitted any evidence that supports such an assessment”, the Service for Foreigner’s Affairs has decided that he will have to report three times a week in Bihac, while his movement is restricted to the area between Sarajevo and Bihac.

The lawyers are now waiting for a decision on their complaint to Keskin being proclaimed a security threat. They said they will meanwhile also complain about the reporting measure, arguing that the claim that he was a security threat was never proven.