NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A British expert has agreed to testify in a Cyprus court in defense of an Egyptian hijacker fighting an extradition request from his country.

Seif Eddin Mustafa, who hijacked an EgyptAir Airbus 320 plane on March 29 from Alexandria to Cairo and diverted it to Cyprus, claims his opposition to Egypt's military-backed government would put him at risk of torture if he was extradited back. The hijack ended peacefully after all 72 passengers and crew were released and Mustafa arrested.

Judge Dona Constantinou adjourned proceedings Friday until next month when Emile George Howard Joffe, an international relations expert at London Metropolitan University, is scheduled to testify.

Mustafa also claims to have seen an Italian doctoral student in an Egyptian prison before he was found dead on a Cairo road.