Sweden’s government has decided to extradite a self-confessed supporter of the PKK terror group to Turkey, where he faces a four-year prison sentence for drug crimes.
The government made the decision at a special meeting on Monday, a week after Sweden’s Supreme Court ruled that neither the European Convention of Human Rights or Sweden’s own extradition law provided any reason not to grant Turkey’s request.
“The government on June 12th, 2023, decided to grant the extradition request regarding a 35-year-old Turkish citizen who has been sentenced to four years and seven months in prison for drug crimes in Turkey,” Ashraf Ahmed, a senior official in Sweden’s justice department told state broadcaster SVT.
The man has claimed that his prosecution in Turkey in reality relates to his activities in the pro-Kurdish HDP party as well as his open support on Facebook for the PKK, which is classed as a terror organisation in Sweden.
Turkey’s national prosecutor has denied to Sweden’s High Court that the country has any current investigations ongoing against the man regarding “carrying out propaganda for a terror organisation”, or “insulting the Turkish president”.
The man was arrested in Sweden last year following a request from Turkey’s national prosecutor.
The Turkish authorities released him from prison two years into his sentence, after which the man travelled to Sweden and got a job. The Turkish prosecutor now wants him to serve the rest of his sentence.
The extradition is expected to take place in the early summer.
Source: thelocal