Sweden’s top court on Thursday ruled there were legal obstacles to extraditing two Turkish citizens that Ankara claims are part of a “terrorist group,” days after Turkey dropped objections to Sweden’s membership.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday agreed to put Sweden’s NATO membership bid to the country’s parliament after stalling the process for over a year.
Ankara claims that the Nordic country “harbors terrorist groups” and accuses it of not fulfilling the commitments it made last year in the context of a trilateral deal.
Erdogan told a NATO summit this week, however, that he will forward Sweden’s NATO application to the parliament in the autumn, while he reiterated that he expects Sweden to take concrete steps against terrorism.
Turkey is currently seeking the extradition of two Turkish citizens from Sweden on accusations they are part of the Gulenist movement, which it designates a terrorist organization and refers to by the name “FETO,” or the “Fetullahist Terrorist Organization.” Turkey says US-based cleric Fetullah Gulen was behind a coup attempt in 2016.
Sweden’s government decides on extradition requests and has the final say. But the country’s Supreme Court said there were legal obstacles to agreeing to Turkey’s request.
“The [alleged] criminal acts have consisted of the persons [allegedly] joining the Gulen movement by downloading and using a mobile application, which is used by the movement’s members,” the court said in a statement.
These actions alone did not equate to participation in a terrorist organization under Swedish law, it continued, adding that extradition must be based on actions that constitute a crime in both Sweden and Turkey.
Another obstacle is that the two people were at risk of persecution in Turkey, it said.