As the newspaper “Aftonbladet” writes, the Supreme Court of Sweden has approved the extradition of a 35-year-old to Turkey. He is said to be a supporter of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The court thus places the decision on the man’s future in the hands of the Swedish government. The extradition is one of the key requirements of the Turkish government for the ratification of Sweden’s NATO accession.
According to “Aftonbladet” it would be the first time that a PKK supporter was extradited from Sweden to Turkey. In Sweden, the government decides on extradition requests but cannot approve them if the Supreme Court votes against them. According to the newspaper, the decision was made last week.
Drug verdict just as a pretext?
The man in question was sentenced in 2014 to four years and seven months in a Turkish prison for a drug-related offence. He was released on parole and moved to Sweden. He was arrested there in August 2022 at the request of Turkish prosecutors to serve out the remainder of his sentence in Turkey.
According to “Aftonbladet”, however, the man claims that the real reason for the extradition request is his connection to the pro-Kurdish Turkish party HDP and his testimonies of support for the PKK.
Solidarity rallies in Stockholm
Hundreds of people with PKK flags demonstrated in Stockholm on Sunday, shouting anti-NATO slogans. They protested against anti-terror laws passed under pressure from Turkey, which, among other things, criminalize “participation in a terrorist organization”.
timely judgment
For the Swedish government, this ruling by the Supreme Court comes at the right time, said Turkey expert Paul Levin, who, according to Aftonbladet, acted as an expert during the proceedings. Like Finland, Sweden had applied for NATO membership in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Both countries thus broke with a long tradition of extensive military neutrality. Finland was admitted to NATO on April 4 as the 31st member.
Sweden’s accession, on the other hand, continues to be blocked not only by Turkey but also by Hungary. All NATO states must agree to the admission of a new member.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was re-elected at the end of May, is demanding that Sweden extradite several dozen Kurdish activists.
mak/rb (afp, aftonbladet.se)
Source: DW
