Sweden defends legal independence in Ankara’s extradition requests
Stockholm insisted that all decisions on the possible extradition of terrorist suspects following an agreement with Ankara on Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership should be made by “independent courts”.
“In Sweden, Swedish law is applied by independent courts. Swedish citizens are not extradited. Non-Swedish citizens can be extradited at the request of other countries, but only if it is compatible with Swedish law and the European Convention,” said Justice Minister Morgan Morgan. Johansson says this in a written statement to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In his statement, Johansson insisted that it was Sweden’s Supreme Court “that makes that review and has a veto. That system is still valid. It is clear in the agreement that we follow the European Convention on Extradition, which Sweden, Finland and Turkey have signed. “
The comments come after Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ on Wednesday said that Turkey will renew requests for Sweden and Finland to extradite individuals they consider terrorists after the countries reached an agreement on the Nordic nations’ applications for membership in NATO.
“The documents from six PKK members and six FETÖ members are waiting in Finland, while those from 10 FETÖ members and 11 PKK members are waiting in Sweden. We will write about their extradition again after the agreement and remind them,” Bozdağ said.
On Tuesday, Turkey, Finland and Sweden signed an agreement for Ankara to remove its bloc from the Nordic countries’ NATO membership, while the candidates promised not to support the PKK, its extensions or the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which arranged a failed 2016 coup attempt. .
The agreement addresses Ankara’s three main problems with Finland and Sweden: the lifting of arms export restrictions to Turkey, a hard line against the PKK and its affiliates and the extradition of terrorist suspects.
In the memorandum signed by the three countries on Tuesday, Finland and Sweden agreed to “promptly and thoroughly process (Turkey’s) ongoing deportation or extradition requests for terrorist suspects … in accordance with the European Convention on Extradition.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Sweden and Finland on Thursday that he could still block their efforts to join NATO if they fail to implement a new accession agreement with Ankara.
Erdoğan said that Sweden had promised Turkey to extradite 73 terrorists.