The Swedish Supreme Court blocks the extradition of two people wanted by Türkiye

July 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Swedish Supreme Court announced on Thursday the blocking of the extradition of two people sought by Turkey for their alleged role in the attempted coup in 2016, which resulted in the death of nearly 250 people.

The court has indicated in a statement published on its website that “in one case, the extradition was requested for the application of a prison sentence and in the other for the initiation of proceedings”, before explaining that both men, who are refugees, they could face “persecution” if handed over to Turkey.

Thus, he explained that both are accused in Turkey of “belonging to a terrorist organization” for ties to the organization headed by the Islamist cleric Fetulá Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States and whom Ankara accuses of organizing the attempt.

The court has stated that the acts for which they were charged result in the discarding of a mobile phone application that Turkey says was used by members of the group, although it has stressed that this fact does not mean being a member of a terrorist organization. in Sweden.

“One of the prerequisites for extradition is that the fact that is the basis for the extradition request is punishable both in Turkey and in Sweden,” said the court, which has emphasized that “the double criminality requirement must be apply particularly strictly in certain situations”.

The decision came just a few days after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, withdrew the veto on Sweden’s accession to NATO, which he had blocked alleging lack of cooperation in anti-terrorism matters.

A year ago, at the Madrid summit, the Turkish president linked his approval to a series of Stockholm commitments to deal with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), considered by Ankara to be a terrorist group.