A Swedish appeals court on Wednesday overturned a decision to extradite to Türkiye a man who was found guilty of racketeering for the terrorist group PKK, but it also upheld a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for the 40-year-old terrorist sympathizer.
Yahya Güngör was convicted of attempted extortion, weapons possession and attempted terrorist financing, with the court saying he was acting on behalf of the PKK.
Deputy Chief Prosecutor Hans Ihrman underscored that detectives had been able to verify 11 occasions when the man worked with a high-ranking PKK member in Stockholm to extort money from restaurants and wholesalers.
Furthermore, Mans Wigen, chief councilor of the Stockholm district court, said the investigation showed a clear connection between the terror group PKK and the defendant.
However, the Svea Court of Appeal said Güngör should not be deported after serving his sentence, reversing a lower court's ruling.
"Since a possible expulsion is not too far in the future, the Court of Appeal considers that it is reasonable to believe that the obstacle will remain at that time," the appeals court said, citing "threats" the man would face if deported to Türkiye because of his ties to the terrorist organization.
In July, the Stockholm District Court said he would be expelled from Sweden after serving his sentence and banned from returning.
It was the first time that a Swedish court had sentenced someone for financing the party. PKK has waged a campaign of terrorism in southeast Türkiye since 1984 and is considered a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union.
In May, Sweden tightened its anti-terrorism laws, a move expected to help gain approval for the Nordic nation’s request to join NATO. The revised laws include prison terms of up to four years for people convicted of participating in an extremist organization in a way that is intended to promote, strengthen or support such a group.
The following month, Güngör was charged with attempting to extort money in Stockholm in January by pointing a revolver at a restaurant owner, firing in the air and threatening to damage the restaurant unless he received funds the following day. Güngör has denied any wrongdoing.
The lower court said the investigation into the case showed "that the PKK conducts a very extensive fundraising activity in Europe using, e.g., extortion of Kurdish businessmen."
Last year, Sweden and neighboring Finland sought protection under NATO's security umbrella after Russia invaded Ukraine. Finland joined the alliance earlier this year but Sweden, which abandoned a long history of military nonalignment, is still waiting to become NATO's 32nd member.
New entries must be approved by all existing members, and Türkiye has so far refused to ratify Sweden’s application. It said this was because Sweden has refused to extradite dozens of people suspected of links to PKK, as well as the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which orchestrated a defeated yet bloody coup in Türkiye in July 2016. Türkiye also has criticized a series of demonstrations in both Sweden and Denmark at which the Quran, Islam’s holy book, was burned.
At a NATO summit in Vilnius in July, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said his country would drop its objection to Sweden’s membership after blocking it for more than a year. However, the Turkish parliament must still ratify the application, as must Hungary.
The Turkish Parliament will see to the situation within the framework of its own calendar, Erdoğan told PBS Tuesday. Parliament is set to resume activities on Sunday, Oct. 1.