STOCKHOLM: A Swedish appeals court on Wednesday upheld the verdict against a man charged with attempting to finance the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), in a decision that could affect the likelihood of Turkiye ratifying Sweden’s NATO application.
Ankara accuses Sweden of harbouring members of militant organizations on its soil and has said it must crackdown against them before it can join NATO.
The PKK, deemed a terrorist outfit by the European Union – to which Sweden belongs – and the US as well as by Turkiye, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.
In July, a lower court sentenced Yahya Gungor, a Turkish Kurd, to 4 years and 6 months in jail followed by deportation for gun crime, attempted funding of terrorism, and attempted extortion.
The Svea Court of Appeal found, as the district court had also done, that Gungor had attempted to pressure a Kurdish businessman in the capital city of Stockholm at gunpoint to pay money to the PKK, according to media reports.
In a statement, it said it upheld the verdict of the Stockholm district court apart from the deportation ruling, which it annulled.
Court of Appeal Makes Assessment
It said that the Court of Appeal makes the assessment that there will be obstacles to enforcing the deportation once the man has served his sentence.
Sweden has said it has fulfilled demands agreed upon in talks with Turkiye, including introducing a new legislation that makes being a member of a terrorist group illegal.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said recently that he would forward the ratification of Sweden’s bid to parliament in the autumn but that he expects Stockholm to take measures against terrorism in return for approval from Ankara.
Sweden and neighbouring Finland applied for NATO membership in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland joined the alliance in April.
