EDMONTON – An American murder suspect is counting down the days to his possible extradition after a judge ruled to send his case to the Canadian justice minister for review.
“She OK’d the extradition, basically,” Justice Canada spokesman Chris Girouard said Friday. On Thursday, Alberta Queen’s Bench Justice Julianna Topolniski ruled that U.S. authorities have enough evidence against Nasser Muhsin, 17, for the extradition to proceed.
Muhsin is wanted in Nashville, where he is suspected of firing the shot that killed a city market owner.
Ebadolla Ghorbani was shot after he struggled to hold the market door closed against two masked men. The shooting was recorded on a security camera.
Muhsin fled and eventually crossed the border into Canada, although authorities aren’t sure how he managed to do that while being sought for murder.
He later surrendered to Canadian authorities and applied for refugee status, saying that he would be hurt or killed by rival gangs if he was returned to the United States. That argument was rejected.
Muhsin has 30 days to enter an appeal. After that, the federal justice minister will make a determination on whether the teen is returned to American authorities.
Until then, Muhsin remains in custody at an Edmonton youth detention centre.
