Sweden extradites man accused of fraud to Turkey after tricky NATO deal
Sweden decided to extradite a man to Turkey on Thursday, in the wake of tricky negotiations to join NATO.
The extradition of the man, who is accused of fraud, comes after Ankara demanded that Sweden send a number of people to Turkey in exchange for them being allowed to formally apply for NATO membership.
It is the first time Sweden has decided to extradite someone after tense negotiations with Ankara.
Nato ally Turkey lifted its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining the defense alliance in June, after previously accusing the two Nordic countries of harboring what Turkey says are militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey gave Sweden a list of people it wants extradited as part of the deal, but has since expressed frustration at the lack of progress.
– This is a normal routine matter, says Sweden’s Minister of Justice Morgan Johansson to Reuters in a text message. “The person in question is a Turkish citizen and convicted of fraud offenses in Turkey in 2013 and 2016.”
“The Supreme Court has reviewed the matter as usual and concluded that there are no obstacles to extradition,” he added.
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.
The man denies any crime and says he has been wrongly convicted because he converted from Islam to Christianity, refused to do military service and has Kurdish roots, says SVT.
In a statement, the court says that nothing has emerged to indicate that the man is at risk of being persecuted in Turkey.
Swedish broadcaster SVT, which first reported the extradition, said the man was sentenced in Turkey to 14 years in prison for multiple accounts of bank card fraud – something the defendants deny.
The man, reportedly in his 30s, applied for asylum in Sweden in 2011 and then protection status in 2022, but the Migration Agency rejected both applications. He has been in custody in Sweden since the end of last year due to the extradition case.
In 2014, the man was granted refugee status in Italy, according to court documents.
However, the Supreme Court announced on July 25 that it sees no obstacles to the extradition.
In an agreement signed by Sweden and Finland at a NATO summit in Madrid in late June, the two countries agreed to review Turkish extradition requests “quickly and thoroughly,” according to Turkey’s Daily Sabah.
Both Nordic countries rejected the extradition of 19 people and did not respond to Turkey’s request for five others, Turkish media reported, adding that extradition processes for nine others, including two in Finland and seven in Sweden, were still ongoing.