ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi authorities on Wednesday extradited Kuwaiti dissident Salman al-Khaldi, who faces multiple prison sentences in Kuwait for criticizing the government and Saudi Arabia. The move sparked controversy among the public and legal experts.

Kuwait’s interior ministry announced that 25-year-old Khaldi was captured before he was able to leave Iraq and was handed over to Kuwait through direct coordination with Iraqi authorities. The ministry thanked Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari, Basra Governor Asaad al-Eidani, and other authorities in the neighboring country for their “fruitful cooperation and rapid response.”

Khaldi had fled to the UK in 2022, seeking political asylum, days before Kuwaiti judicial authorities sentenced him in absentia to five years in prison over tweets in which he alleged the involvement of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in the assassination of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Khaldi was also an outspoken critic of the Kuwaiti government on social media, shedding light on many alleged cases of corruption, for which he was handed five more years with hard labor on charges of spreading “false and malicious rumors.”

He had recently been posting videos in Iraq on social media while allegedly on a religious pilgrimage in the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. His extradition stirred controversy in the Iraqi public.

Habib al-Quraishi, a legal expert, told The New Region that any case of extradition needs to be preceded by a diplomatic request from the country to the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council, according to Article 360 of the Iraqi constitution.

Article 361 of the constitution states that “The Supreme Judicial Council shall refer the extradition request, if it meets the legal requirements, to the criminal court,” adding that the subject has the right to a lawyer and that a final ruling will be issued after hearing the defense.

“Did Iraq follow these procedures demanded by the law to extradite a wanted suspect?” asked Quraishi.

“Extradition is a dangerous and sensitive issue and the Iraqi state must deal with extreme caution and greater sagacity,” he said.

Khaldi’s Kuwaiti citizenship was reportedly revoked in April 2024. He faces 11 prison sentences back in Kuwait.