Cairo: In a shock ruling, a Turkish court has rejected the Australian government’s request to

extradite Islamic State militant Neil Prakash to face terror charges in Australia.

The verdict paves the way for his release from the Gaziantep H-Type maximum-security prison, in south-eastern Turkey, according to his lawyer Alper Unver, provided the court clears him of other local crimes pending further investigations.

For now he remains behind bars as the prosecution assesses appealing the no-extradition verdict. A

hearing is set for September 27 where domestic terrorism charges will be examined before the court.

Prakash has been held in custody since October 2016 when he attempted to cross the border from Syria using fake documents. Turkish security forces captured him with the aid of Australian Federal Police in a joint operation.