STOCKHOLM, July 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Swedish court has jailed a Kurdish man for four-and-a-half years for crimes including attempting to finance terrorism.
It is the first time Sweden’s updated terror laws have been used in a case involving the Kurdish militant PKK.
Turkiye has long called on Stockholm to crack down on Kurdish separatists.
Sweden’s bid to join Nato has been delayed principally by Turkiye’s demand that it extradites dozens of people it views as terrorists.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet the Swedish prime minister in Lithuania on Monday ahead of a Nato summit, where Sweden is hoping to be welcomed into the Western defensive alliance.
President Joe Biden told Sweden’s leader Ulf Kristersson this week that the US was “anxiously looking forward” to his country’s membership.
Addressing Stockholm district court on Thursday, Judge Mans Wigen was at pains to stress that Sweden’s bid to join Nato had had no impact on its decision.
Last month prosecutor Hans Ihrman stressed that the timing of the case was “pure coincidence”, even though Turkiye had urged Sweden to use terror laws to target Kurds suspected of having links to PKK militants.
But the timing was not lost on commentators who pointed out that it sent a message to Ankara that Sweden was getting tough on the PKK, which launched an armed struggle against the Turkish state in 1984.
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the case was an example of how organised crime in Sweden was linked to terrorist organisations in Turkiye.
The 41-year-old Kurdish man who was jailed on Thursday has Turkish origins and the judge said he would be deported as soon as he had served his sentence.
He was found guilty of trying to persuade a Kurdish businessman at gunpoint outside a bar in Stockholm to providing funding for the PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by both the US and EU.
Sweden toughened its anti-terrorism laws last month to outlaw arranging meetings to provide financial or other aid for banned groups. The government said it was closing a loophole in existing legislation but critics warned it could affect freedom of speech.
Last month the government also announced it would extradite a Turkish Kurd who was legally resident in Sweden. Turkiye said it was because of a drug crime but the man argued he was being pursued because of his support for Turkiye’s biggest pro-Kurdish political party.
Thursday’s jail sentence coincided with a key meeting in Brussels involving the foreign ministers of Sweden, Turkiye and Finland, ahead of next week’s Nato summit in Vilnius.
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told Swedish radio she was hoping for a quick announcement on Nato membership, even though Turkiye had made no promises.
The Nato chief said talks would continue right up to the eve of the summit: “What is possible and what we’re all working to achieve is a positive decision at the summit.”
Finland and Sweden decided to join Nato in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Finland officially became a member in April after Turkiye eventually withdraw its initial objections.
But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly highlighted problems with Sweden’s bid, saying even this week that it needed to do more on its “homework”.
He said Sweden had taken steps in the right direction, by changing anti-terror laws, but he complained PKK supporters continued to organise protests “praising terrorism”.
Hungary has also stalled on backing the Swedish bid, but says if Turkiye shifts its stance it will not delay the process.
Erdogan also cited the burning of a Koran during a protest by an Iraqi Christian immigrant outside a mosque in Stockholm this week which he condemned as a hate crime and which prompted outrage in many Muslim countries.
Swedish police allowed the protest to go ahead after a court overturned a ban on burning the Koran because of freedom of speech laws.
The Swedish government criticised the action as “Islamophobic” and a survey of 1,000 Swedes on Thursday suggested more than half believed that burning the Koran should be banned.
However, police have received further applications to burn both the Koran and the Torah in the coming days and say each request will be assessed according to the freedom of expression laws.
Israel’s ambassador said he was shocked and horrified by the prospect of any more holy books being burned in Sweden.
