Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Photo: DENES ERDOS / AP TT NEWS AGENCY
The case with the woman will now be decided in the Supreme Court.
Photo: LEIF BRÄNNSTRÖM
The woman that Turkey wants extradited is in her 40s and has been granted refugee status by the Swedish Migration Agency.
In 2022, the Major Crimes Intelligence Division of the Turkish Prosecutor General’s Office requested that she be extradited to Turkey to serve a sentence.
In the heavily masked document that Expressen has seen, it is not clear what crime she is alleged to have committed, or whether she is considered to belong to any organization.
– It is not the PKK, that much I can say, says her defense lawyer Ilhan Aydin.
He declines to comment further on the case before it is decided in the Supreme Court.
After the request came to the Swedish Ministry of Justice, the case has been handed over to the National Prosecutor and investigated by the national unit for security cases.
RAW: Obstacles to extradition
The documents show that the woman is married and has two children with her husband. She does not appear in the Swedish crime and suspicion registers and has not been detained in the extradition case.
The Attorney General states in his opinion that extradition may only be granted for crimes that correspond to at least one year’s imprisonment or, if the person is convicted of the crime, imprisonment for four months.
Because that requirement is not met, the woman must not be extradited to Turkey, the Attorney General believes.
Sensitive stage
The stance comes in the middle of a sensitive political stage.
This week, the Turkish parliament will vote on Swedish NATO membership, Bloomberg reports on Monday, citing a Turkish government official.
President Erdogan’s AKP party, which together with a coalition partner controls a majority in parliament, will propose a yes to ratifying the Swedish application, according to the newspaper’s information.
One reason why Turkey has taken so long to admit Sweden as a member has been that Sweden is seen as a safe haven for terrorists. Turkey has demanded that a long list of people with alleged links to the terrorist-classified Kurdish organization PKK be extradited.
Hungary is also delayed
Even people who are said to belong to the so-called Gülen movement have appeared on the lists that have circulated in the media. The Gülen movement was accused, without public proof, of having been behind an attempted coup in 2016.
In several previous cases, the Supreme Court of Sweden has rejected Turkey’s request for the extradition of alleged terrorists.
Apart from Turkey, only Hungary has not yet approved the Swedish NATO application.
READ MORE: Turkey votes on Swedish NATO membership this weekREAD MORE: Premium Double the accusation: PKK terrorist – and killer for Turkish intelligenceREAD MORE: New demand from Erdogan: Extradite 130 “terrorists”
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