Briton held in Prague prison ‘faces extradition to Qatar over card debt racked up six years ago’

A British-Australian man serving a two-month prison sentence in Prague for credit card debt is now facing extradition to Qatar. 

Alan Stevenson from Manchester was arrested in June as he passed through the European city on his way to visit his sick mother in the UK.

His name appeared on an Interpol list after Qatari officials reported him over an outstanding credit card debt he accumulated during a brief stay in the country six years earlier. It is unknown how much the debt is for. 

British-Australian Alan Stevenson of Manchester is serving a two-month prison sentence in Prague’s notorious Pankrac Remand prison, where he has been kept on 23-hour-a-day lockdown, and now faces extradition to Qatar 

Since his arrest Mr Stevenson has been kept on 23-hour-a-day lockdown in Prague’s notorious Pankrac Remand prison.

Inmates there are denied access to warm water or electricity and human rights activists have described conditions there as ‘grossly inhumane’.

Mr Stevenson’s health has deteriorated in the past two months and he has lost more than 22lbs.

Radha Stirling is the CEO of a limited company called Detained in Dubai, which aims to help foreigners abroad.

She said Qatar is wrongly using Interpol, an international police organisation, as a ‘debt collection agency’.

Prague's Pankrac Remand Prison where Mr Stevenson is serving a two-month prison sentence. Pankrac prison became a remand prison for the Nazi Gestapo after German troops occupied Prague in March 1939

Prague’s Pankrac Remand Prison where Mr Stevenson is serving a two-month prison sentence. Pankrac prison became a remand prison for the Nazi Gestapo after German troops occupied Prague in March 1939

Mrs Stirling said: ‘Qatar has overtaken the UAE as the top abuser of the Interpol system,’ she said.

Mr Stevenson worked as an IT manager in Qatari capital Doha in 2013, during which time he opened a bank account.

The bank required him to submit a blank cheque as collateral against the card, to be used to cover any potential unpaid balance if he ever failed to pay.

Mr Stevenson appeared on an Interpol list after Qatari officials reported him over an outstanding credit card debt he accumulated during a brief stay in the country six years earlier. He has travelled extensively and was an IT manager in Qatar back in 2013

Mr Stevenson appeared on an Interpol list after Qatari officials reported him over an outstanding credit card debt he accumulated during a brief stay in the country six years earlier. He has travelled extensively and was an IT manager in Qatar back in 2013

When his mother became ill back in the UK, Mr Stevenson was forced to return home.

Though he notified the bank at the time, and sought to negotiate a payment plan, the bank cashed the blank cheque to cover his credit card bill and it bounced.

Mr Stevenson was convicted in absentia over the cheque, and reported to Interpol, which issued a Red Notice, classing him as a ‘wanted person’.

Mrs Stirling said: ‘The UK generally refuses to consider extradition to the Gulf States due to human rights concerns, but these cases should never even reach that stage.

‘Interpol should not be accepting Red Notice requests that relate to private financial matters.

‘It is outrageous that Alan has been arrested in Prague and faces possible extradition.’

She added: ‘He is being held in horrendous conditions in an archaic jail, over a debt he was in the process of negotiating.

His sister Jennifer Small said she cannot believe her brother has been treated 'like a criminal fugitive' because of a late credit card payment

His sister Jennifer Small said she cannot believe her brother has been treated ‘like a criminal fugitive’ because of a late credit card payment

A history of the notorious Pankrac Prison in Prague 

The prison is situated in the Pankrac district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic. 

It was built in 1889 and was considered a modern innovation for its day with the inclusion of central heating and running water into individual cells. 

The prison was fitted with gas lamps, baths and inmates were required to take on work skills that would help them find a job after their release. 

After the German occupation of the city in March 1939, the prison became a remand prison for the Nazi Gestapo. 

It soon became a central place of execution for enemies of the Reich and was fitted with a guillotine. 

In 1944 the prison was bursting at the seams and housed more than 2,000 inmates – 1,200 more than the original capacity of 800.  

By May 1945, when Prague was liberated from occupation, 1,087 inmates had been executed within its walls. 

‘If Interpol is going to continue allowing this abuse of their system, governments worldwide are going to have to stop treating notices as credible if they originate from the Gulf, to ensure that innocent people like Alan are not abused.’

Mr Stevenson’s family have been in touch with both the British and Australian embassies in the Czech Republic and have been told his case is being reviewed.

His sister, Jennifer Small, said: ‘Alan is my only brother, our mother is unwell, and we are worried sick about what he is enduring, and what might happen next.

‘I can’t believe someone can be treated like a criminal fugitive in 2019 because of a late credit card payment.

She continued: ‘We just want him free and safe, he is wasting away in that jail for no reason. It is heartbreaking.’

Local lawyers have advised Mrs Stirling that proceedings could extend to over a year and that bail was extremely unlikely for a foreign national.

Mrs Stirling said: ‘As bad as conditions are for Alan now; cramped in an overcrowded cell with other inmates, mixed in with those accused of violent crimes, severely limited phone access, and only an hour a day out of his cell; if he is extradited to Qatar, he could face an even worse situation.

‘Human rights abuses in detention are well documented in Qatar, and we already have a number of ongoing cases of Western clients unjustly convicted and suffering deplorable conditions in the Doha prison system.’

 

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