Sweden to release Kurdish refugee who was to be extradited to Turkey
Ahmet Tirej Kaya / PIGEONS
Sweden has decided to release Zinar Bozkurt, a Kurdish refugee who has been held in the prison camp since August 19.
Born in the southern province of Adana in 1995, Zinar Bozkurt joined the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) while in Turkey. Bozkurt decided to go to Sweden in 2014 with a work permit, saying “The police are following me.”
Turkish police raided Bozkurt’s family home in November 2016 as part of investigations against the HDP at the time. In these operations, a friend of his, who participated in HDP activities for a long time, was also arrested. Bozkurt then decided to take refuge in Sweden.
Bozkurt said the Swedish Security Police (SÄPO) interviewed him in 2018. He said his Facebook posts were presented as criminal elements and that he was accused of “being a sympathizer of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). He says SÄPO asked questions like “Do you see YPG and YPJ as terrorist organizations?” “Why do you participate in marches with PKK flags?” and that he told them: “In Sweden everyone is free to wear the flag they want. I did not hold any flags and I have no ties to the PKK. I am Kurdish and I support the HDP.”
After the meeting with SÄPO, Bozkurt’s asylum process did not end. In 2021, his application was rejected, and Sweden decided to extradite him. From this date he began to live illegally in Sweden.
Bozkurt says Swedish police raided his house on August 19 that when he went to the toilet the officers said “Don’t close the door, we have to see you.” Bozkurt also started a hunger strike and then a fast to death during his detention. He further said that he was subjected to homophobic attacks during his detention.
Following the reports of the release, Bozkurt’s lawyer Miran Kakaee said there is no decision yet on his client’s residency.
Kakaee said the Immigration Service wrote in Bozkurt’s release decision that with the developments in the asylum process so far, the decision to extradite Bozkurt is no longer possible.
Kakaee stated that they have not received much information yet, adding: “I interpret the decision of the Immigration Service as sharing my assessment that Bozkurt is at risk of torture if extradited to Turkey, and therefore Zinar cannot be extradited. they can not keep him in the prison camp.”
(English version of Alperen Şen)