Sweden refuses to extradite journalist Bülent Keneş to Türkiye

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Supreme Court of Sweden has rejected the extradition of journalist Bülent Keneş to Türkiye due to the "risk of persecution" because of his political views.

Keneş, 53, was the editor-in-chief of the now-shuttered Today's Zaman newspaper, which was associated with the movement of Fetullah Gülen, a US-based cleric held responsible for the 2016 coup attempt.

There were "several obstacles" to Keneş's extradition, Petter Asp, a member of the Supreme Court, said in a press release, Sweden's Aftonbladet newspaper reported today (December 19).

Among those obstacles are the charges against Keneş in Türkiye are political and his refugee status in Switzerland, according to the press release.

After the verdict, Keneş told the media in Sweden, "Of course, I'm very happy. But this decision was already expected," according to BBC Turkish.

During a joint press conference with Sweden's PM in Ankara last month, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan singled out Keneş among the people Türkiye wants Sweden to extradite in order to approve its NATO membership bid.

Keneş was arrested on October 10, 2015, for "insulting the president" because of his tweets. He was released four days later after an appeal by his attorneys. He resigned as the editor-in-chief of Today's Zaman on December 4, 2015.

On October 18, 2016, a court issued an arrest warrant against him for "attempting to overthrow the government of the Republic of Türkiye or preventing it from performing its duty" because of his alleged involvement in the July 2016 coup attempt.

Sweden and Finland's NATO membership bids

Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO on May 18, in a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine.

However, Türkiye, a NATO member for over 70 years, voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the two countries for tolerating and even supporting "terrorist groups."

The three countries signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding on June 28 at the NATO summit in Madrid, which stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People's Defense Units (YPG), which Türkiye sees as the PKK's extensions in Syria.

The Nordic countries also agreed to address Ankara's pending deportation or extradition requests regarding "terror" suspects.

Türkiye's parliament must ratify the country's approval for Finland and Sweden's membership for them to join NATO.

In September, Sweden lifted restrictions on arms sales to Türkiye, which was among Ankara's demands in order to approve its NATO bid. (SD/VK)