Council of Europe urges Serbia to honor ECHR ruling on Bahraini activist

In November 2021, Bahraini activist Ahmed Jaafar Mohamed Ali arrived in Serbia seeking asylum, only to be detained on an Interpol red notice. Although the European Court of Human Rights issued a provisional measure in January 2022 to stop his extradition, Serbian authorities sent him to Bahrain three days later via a private jet chartered by Royal Jet Airlines. A 2025 ECHR judgment concluded that Serbia violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights by ignoring the interim order.

The Council of Europe now calls on Serbia to release the €9,800 compensation it has held and to cooperate with Ali’s lawyers to facilitate payment. Ali, serving two life sentences in Jau Prison’s Building Two, alleges ongoing beatings, denial of medical care, and constant threats from other inmates. Human-rights groups highlight his case as evidence that Serbia cannot rely on Bahrain’s assurances of safety.