The 34-year-old, who is both a US and Greek citizen, was arrested by the Security Police on Wednesday following a request from US authorities.

His now deceased brother has been suspected of four murderous fires against Jewish buildings in Boston, and the man himself is accused, among other things, of removing evidence in the case.

Since the arrest, the man has been arrested.

On Friday, the district court will decide whether he should continue to be detained.

Then a complicated process begins to decide whether the man should be extradited to the United States or not.

Gets 40 days

In the first step, the question goes to the Central Authority at the Ministry of Justice, where it is up to Minister of Justice Morgan Johansson (S) to decide whether the case should be taken further.

- Then the country has 40 days to submit an extradition request.

When it is ready and everything is in order, which can take a few weeks, it is sent to the public prosecutor who initiates an investigation.

It is like a regular preliminary investigation, where you have the right to present evidence and so on, says the Central Authority's head Ashraf Ahmed.

What the authorities have to investigate is whether there are any obstacles to extradition.

The law requires, for example, that there be double criminality, ie that the act for which the person is suspected is punishable in both Sweden and the USA.

Extradition must not violate, for example, the European Convention.

May take months

If the public prosecutor also sees no obstacles, the case goes on to the government, which makes the final decision.

However, if the person in question opposes extradition, which happens in the majority of cases, the case must be tried by the Supreme Court before it ends up on the government's table.

The many steps mean that the process can go on for a long time.

- Extradition cases are usually handled quickly, but it can take a couple of months depending on how complex the case is.

Ultimately, it is about protecting the person in question.

It must be able to present its arguments and then there must be time for that, says Ahmed.

Pål Wrange, who is a professor of international law at Stockholm University, believes, however, that there is reason for both the USA and Sweden to handle the matter urgently.

- I think the Americans probably have the papers ready.

Then I would think that the government is also acting quite quickly.

Next time, it may be Sweden that wants someone extradited from the US, so there is an interest in it going fast, he says.