February 25, 2019 - 11:05 AMT
Turkish man wanted by U.S. has been set free in Turkey

A Turkish citizen, wanted by the U.S. for his involvement in a terror attack that killed two U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan, has been set free by Turkish authorities following his deportation from Germany where the suspect completed an 11-year prison sentence last year, VOA reports.

Adem Yilmaz's Germany-based lawyer said that his client has been released following two days of detention at Turkey's Istanbul airport by Turkish law enforcement authorities.

"There is no court case against Adem Yilmaz in Turkey since he never lived in Turkey before. Turkish authorities detained him for two days and then set him free," Michael Murat Sertsoz told VOA.

"If they had not released him, that would have been a double punishment. It is not allowed for the same crime," Sertsoz added.

Sertsoz was referring to what is known as "double jeopardy" in legal terminology where a suspect tried and punished for a crime in one country cannot be tried again for the same crime in a different country.

Adem Yilmaz is wanted by the U.S. for his involvement in a suicide attack that killed two U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan in 2008. U.S. requested German authorities to hand the suspect over to the U.S. to be tried on terrorism charges, a request rejected by a German court.