The Croatian Supreme Court on Monday upheld an appeal lodged by a Bosnian national wanted in Tunisia, overturning a county court's earlier decision to extradite him, and ordered his release.

Alen Camdzic, a national of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was arrested in March at Zagreb Airport on an Interpol arrest warrant issued by Tunisia, which requested his extradition.

He is suspected of being involved, as an Israeli agent, in the assassination of Mohammed Zawahri in December 2016, a Tunisian aviation engineer with alleged ties to the Palestinian group Hamas.

The Supreme Court’s decision overturned Velika Gorica county court’s ruling on May 9 to extradite Camdzic, on the grounds that Tunisia might try Camdzic and sentence him to death.

Croatia formally abolished the death penalty in 1990 and, like all other EU member states, does not extradite suspects to other countries where they might face the death penalty.

In contrast with the county court ruling, the Supreme Court said that “in this particular case, with regard to guarantees given, the applicant country (Tunisia) did not provide Croatia with any guarantee that the death penalty would not be imposed.”

“Even though it is without a doubt that the suspect is charged with one of the most serious crimes, when there is a risk that the suspect might be sentenced to death in the applicant country, extradition cannot be allowed,” the Supreme Court said in its ruling.

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