The Swedish Supreme Court has blocked the extradition of Turkish journalist Bülent Kenes to Turkey, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports. The decision, which came on Monday, December 19th, has the potential to jeopardize Sweden’s bid for membership in NATO.
As part of its quid pro quo deal with Turkey, Sweden had promised that, in exchange for its interlocutor’s assent, it would extradite dozens of persons Turkey deems to be terrorists. Because of the deal, and Sweden’s efforts in following through with it, Turkey dropped its veto against Sweden’s NATO membership; yet it had not ratified the country’s accession thus far.
Sweden has been sending back people convicted of crimes in Turkey since August. In December, it extradited a man with alleged ties to PKK, which is also listed as a terrorist organisation by the EU. These individuals are mainly Kurds connected to various Kurdish resistance or terrorist groups or members of the Gülen movement.
The movement was founded in Turkey in the late 1970s by writer and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and was according to the Turkish state behind a failed 2016 coup attempt. Turkey claims Kenes has ties to the Gülen movement and wants him to be prosecuted in Turkey on those grounds.
During a November joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, President Recep Erdoğan specifically requested Kenes’ extradition in exchange for allowing Sweden to join the military alliance.
Before fleeing to Sweden, Kenes was editor-in-chief of the newspaper daily Zaman, known for its links to the Gülen movement as well as its criticism of the Turkish government. Soon after the coup ran aground, the government disbanded the publication during its crackdown on any entity deemed to be associated with the attempt.
Petter Asp, a member of the Swedish Supreme Court, defended its decision on the grounds that the charges levied against Kenes were political in nature. Moreover, some of the crimes for which Kenes was convicted in Turkey are not punishable in Sweden where he enjoys refugee status. Earlier, the public prosecutor connected to the case also opposed Kenes’ extradition, citing Sweden’s Extradition Act.
While understandably gratified by the decision, Kenes observed it was expected, adding that being regarded as a terrorist never came as a shock to him, since “[Erdoğan] is a despot and I am a journalist.”
In a separate tweet, Kenes said that he was
Happy to see Sweden continue to maintain its rule of law and its democratic credentials against the blackmail of an Islamofascist dictator. Many thanks to Sweden and many thanks to its system of rule of law. Everyone should greatly appreciate these precious values.
Sweden and neighbouring Finland both applied to join NATO in May following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but were soon accosted by Turkey, which took the opportunity to extract favors—a cessation of support to any Kurdish group Ankara deems to be terrorist (such as the YPG militia)—as well as the extradition of those individuals Turkey has sentenced of a crime. The Nordic countries’ NATO bid has won approval from 28 states with Turkey being the sole hold-out.
Meanwhile, Turkish media (which is well aware of the issue and mainly loyal to Erdoğan’s government) is lambasting Sweden’s decision, using words like “scandal” as they question Sweden’s NATO application.
Whether Ankara itself will follow suit and go as far as reintroducing its former veto vote against Sweden joining the military alliance is as yet unclear.
