Ajit Karn
As part of an agreement reached in June, Sweden agreed to increase its cooperation with Turkey in fighting terrorism.
Sweden announced on Thursday that it will tighten laws governing membership in terrorist organisations, months after reaching an accord with Turkey on combating terrorism in an effort to overcome Turkey’s objections to Swedish NATO membership.
The new law, which the government hopes will go into effect in June, will grant authorities broader authority to detain and prosecute individuals who financially or otherwise support terrorist organisations.
The Justice Minister, Gunnar Strommer, told reporters, “We’re talking about extremely expansive criminalization.”
Strommer stated that it had previously been difficult to prosecute individuals unless their actions could be linked to a specific terrorist act. The new legislation would encompass all types of participation.
Strommer stated that the 2017 attack in central Stockholm in which a man ran over five pedestrians on a busy shopping street highlighted the need for stricter laws.
He added, however, that the threat level had increased recently, with Sweden being viewed as a legitimate target following, among other things, the burning of the Koran by Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan in Stockholm last month.
As part of an agreement reached in June aimed at overcoming Ankara’s objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, Sweden committed to bolstering cooperation with Turkey in the fight against terrorism.
After protests in Stockholm, including those by Paludan, Turkey halted talks last month, claiming Sweden was not doing enough.
Wednesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan stated, “Our position toward Finland is positive, but it is not favourable toward Sweden.”
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Strommer stated that the new law would not affect the right to demonstrate nor prevent people from flying the flag of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which took up arms against the Turkish government in 1984.
