Sweden agrees to extradite the man to Turkey after the NATO agreement
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STOCKHOLM, Aug 11 (Reuters) – Sweden’s government has decided to extradite a man to Turkey wanted for fraud, it said on Thursday, the first case since Turkey demanded the extradition of a number of people in exchange for Stockholm being allowed to formally apply for NATO membership .
NATO ally Turkey lifted its veto on Finland and Sweden’s bid to join the Western alliance in June after weeks of tense negotiations in which Ankara accused the two Nordic countries of harboring what Turkey says are militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Read more
As part of the deal, Turkey submitted a list of people it wanted Sweden to extradite, but has since expressed frustration at the lack of progress.
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The man, in his 30s, would be the first known case of extradition to Turkey since the deal was concluded. Read more
“This is a normal routine matter. The person in question is a Turkish citizen and convicted of fraud crimes in Turkey in 2013 and 2016,” said Justice Minister Morgan Johansson to Reuters in a text message.
“The Supreme Court has heard the matter as usual and concluded that there are no obstacles to extradition,” he said.
A Justice Ministry spokesman declined to say whether the man was on the list of people Turkey has demanded extradition or to comment further on the case.
Swedish broadcaster SVT, which first reported the extradition, said the man was sentenced in Turkey to 14 years in prison for multiple bank card fraud accounts.
The man, who has been detained in Sweden since last year, says he has been wrongly convicted because he is a convert to Christianity, refused to do military service and has Kurdish roots, says SVT.
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Reporting by Johan Ahlander; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
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