A court in Sweden convicted a man on Thursday for attempting to finance the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which launched an armed campaign against Turkey in 1984. The ruling comes at a sensitive time for Swedish-Turkish relations, as Turkey is obstructing Sweden's NATO membership over claims that Sweden is harboring supporters of groups it considers terrorist.
The lawyer for the defendant did not respond to a request for comment. Stockholm District Court Judge Mans Vigen stated, "The district court issues a ruling against a Kurdish man of Turkish origin for attempting to pressure a Kurdish businessman in Stockholm to pay money to the PKK under threat of armed violence." He added, "The extortion attempt occurred during an intensive fundraising activity conducted by the PKK in Europe."
The court sentenced the man to four years and six months in prison for attempted extortion, committing a weapons offense, and financing terrorism. The court's ruling included that the man should also be deported from Sweden and barred from returning without a specified time frame.
