Sweden blocks extradition of fugitive FETÖ suspect

STOCKHOLM

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Sweden’s Supreme Court has blocked the extradition of Bülent Keneş, the former editor-in-chief of a daily, a key demand by Ankara to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership.

There were “several hindrances” to send back former head of now-defunct Today’s Zaman, who is accused of being involved in the failed 2016 military coup, the court said.

Some of the accusations against Keneş are not crimes in Sweden, which along with the political nature of the case and his refugee status in Sweden, rendered an extradition impossible, the court added.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters during a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in early November in Ankara that Keneş was among terrorists he wants extradited from Sweden.

“It is important that this terrorist be deported to Türkiye. We want Sweden to be more sensitive about this,” he said.

Sweden and Finland abandoned their longstanding policies of military nonalignment and applied for membership in the military alliance after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February, fearing that Russian President Vladimir Putin might target them next.

But Türkiye has been holding off on endorsing their bids, accusing them of ignoring Ankara’s security concerns. Ankara is pressing the two countries to crack down on terrorists, including supporters of the PKK and FETÖ.

Out of 30 allied nations, only Türkiye and Hungary have not pledged parliamentary approval to Sweden and Finland. Hungary’s parliament is expected to vote on NATO expansion early next year.

Sweden and Finland have taken some steps to address Türkiye’s concerns but Ankara said more concrete actions are needed for the Turkish Parliament’s ratification of their accession to the alliance.

Sweden has recently amended its anti-terror law with promises that it will strengthen the hands of the law enforcement against terror organizations. The law will take force on Jan. 1. Ankara plans to see the implementation of the new law in Sweden in the first quarter of 2023.

Swedish authorities last week deported Turkish citizen Mahmut Tat, who was sentenced to more than six years in jail over being a member of the PKK in Türkiye. He fled to Sweden in 2015, but Stockholm rejected his asylum request.

Tat arrived in Istanbul on the night of Dec. 2 after Sweden detained and extradited him. Turkish police detained him soon after arriving at Istanbul airport and referred him to a court on Dec. 3, which sent him to jail.

Sweden’s extradition “shows goodwill,” but Türkiye expects more, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said on Dec. 5.