Sweden to Erdogan: ‘Decisions to extradite suspects are made by the independent judiciary’

Decisions in Sweden to extradite suspects are made by an independent judiciary, the justice minister said tonight, responding to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said Stockholm had promised him it would extradite “73 terrorists” as part of of their agreement on its accession to NATO.

“In Sweden, the law is enforced by independent courts,” Justice Minister Morgan Johansson said in a written statement to AFP.

People who do not have Swedish citizenship “can be extradited, at the request of other countries, but only if this is consistent with Swedish law and the European Extradition Convention”, he insisted, recalling that Swedish citizens cannot be extradited to other countries.

The agreement that Stockholm signed with Turkey so that the latter would lift its objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO “clearly says that we will respect the European Extradition Convention,” the minister added.

Less than 48 hours after the three countries agreed on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid, the Turkish president again threatened today to block their entry. At the press conference he gave, he referred to the “promise made by Sweden” to extradite “73 terrorists”. The Swedes “will send them back. They promised it. It’s written. They will keep their promise,” he said.

Without commenting directly on Erdogan’s statement, the justice minister reminded that the final word on extradition rests with the Supreme Court “which can veto it” and not the government.

Erdogan did not give further details about the 73 people whose extradition he is seeking. However, Ankara has been seeking for many years the extradition of Kurds or members of the Fethullah Gülen movement living in exile in Sweden.

Sweden’s prime minister, responding to concerns expressed in her country, said as early as Wednesday that Stockholm “will continue to abide by Swedish law and international law” when it comes to publications.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ