Summary of facts: Bulgaria by verbal note to the Greek Embassy in Sofia requested the extradition of 3 persons, accused of theft, arson and illegal exit from Bulgaria.  The Council of Justices of the Court of Appeal advised in favor of extradition but the defendants appealed for review before the Supreme Court claiming that extradition was requested because of their political opinions against the regime and that they would be persecuted if returned to Bulgaria. 

Point of law: Extradition is not allowed on persons who fled to Greece to avoid persecution due to their opposition against governmental policies in their country of origin. 

Reasoning and decision: The Convention on Mutual Assistance in Civil and Penal Matters between Greece and Bulgaria, in conjunction with art. 438 para. 1 c' of Criminal Procedure Code, allow either party to refuse extradition when they consider that it is requested for offences linked to political motives. In the said case, the Supreme Court found out the following: the three persons sought are Bulgarian Moslems who opposed the decision by Bulgarian authorities imposing compulsory "Bulgarisation" of their names. Due to their opposition, they feared persecution and fled to Greece where they applied for asylum, awaiting to obtain a passport and emigrate definitely to Turkey. The Court, based on documentation provided by Amnesty international and UNHCR ruled that extradition is obviously politically motivated. 

The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Council of Justices of the Court of Appeal in favor of the extradition.

Greek

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