A Somali diplomat arrested at Dublin Airport and charged with people-smuggling offences has launched a High Court challenge against his detention in an Irish prison, claiming diplomatic immunity.
Mohamed Abdallatif Hussein, who is attached to the Federal Republic of Somalia embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was arrested by gardaí at Dublin Airport on November 26th last year.
He was brought before Dublin District Court later that day accused of two counts of alleged people smuggling under the Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Act, 2021, at Dublin Airport’s terminal one.
On the same date, he was also charged with two further offences under the Act.
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Last January at Cloverhill District Court he was further charged with four counts of alleged people smuggling under the Act at terminal two, Dublin Airport, on November 6th and September 30th last year.
He has not yet entered a plea on any of the eight charges.
Barry Ward SC, for Mr Hussein, told the High Court on Monday his client has been held here “unlawfully” since November and was entitled to diplomatic immunity.
While only Mr Hussein’s side was represented in court, Mr Ward told Ms Justice Marguerite Bolger his client was travelling under a diplomatic passport at the time of his arrest last November.
Mr Ward is bringing the High Court application to have his client released from Cloverhill Prison.
On Friday, Faisal Sadiq Khan of FSK Solicitors wrote to the prison governor, requesting his client’s “immediate” release under the Constitution’s Article 40.4.2, which concerns the lawfulness of a person’s detention.
The request was refused by the prison, which said the release of Mr Hussein required a High Court order.
Mr Hussein’s lawyers say he is entitled to diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention.
In a sworn statement to the court, Mr Khan said his client was a diplomatic agent “within” the meaning of ... the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, transposed into Irish law.
Mr Hussein is bringing the High Court application against the Director of Public Prosecutions and the governor of Cloverhill Prison.
The matter is back before the High Court later this week.
