Sweden rejects Türkiye’s request for extradition of accused terrorist

STOCKHOLM

Sweden’s top court on Monday rejected Türkiye’s request for the extradition of a fugitive terrorist group suspect living on Swedish soil.

In a statement, Sweden’s Supreme Court said that in order to meet the extradition request, a suspect must have been sentenced to one year or more in prison, but that the suspect in question, Bulent Kenes, did not meet this requirement.

At a joint press conference last month with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Sweden to deport Kenes back to Türkiye, stressing its importance.

Kenes, the former editor-in-chief of Today's Zaman newspaper and a suspected member of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), lives in Sweden.

In the defeated 2016 coup orchestrated by FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen, 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.

Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden signed a memorandum this June on the Nordic countries' bids for NATO membership following four-way talks in Madrid.

The memorandum conditions Finland and Sweden to take steps on Türkiye's terrorism concerns, including the extradition of terror suspects, and lifts an arms embargo on Ankara.

In return, Türkiye would allow the Nordic countries to become NATO members.

However, Ankara has accused Finland and Sweden of not complying with the deal, as both nations failed to extradite wanted terrorists sought by Ankara.

* Writing by Seda Sevencan