In January, a man in his 40s fired a weapon outside a tavern in Stockholm. Now he is being prosecuted for, according to the prosecutor, trying to recover money to finance the terrorist Kurdish organization PKK.
It is the first prosecution in Sweden that deals with the financing of the PKK.
The goal is not only unique. The issue of recovery and extortion is also difficult to examine. This becomes clear when SVT talks to a high representative of a Turkish association in Sweden.
"No one will want to talk.
Can someone speak anonymously?
"No, I can't risk anyone's life.
The PKK has been on the radar since Palme murder investigator Hans Holmér's PKK trail in the 80s, but even SAPO does not want to answer questions about the organization's alleged debt collection activities.
"A well-known phenomenon throughout Western Europe"
According to Turkey expert Svante Cornell, co-founder of the think tank Institute for Security and Development Policy, it is well known that the PKK is engaged in debt collection in Western Europe.
"You exert pressure and want people to be loyal to the group. But no one dares to talk about this.
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"They have been forced to shift resources to prioritizing the PKK," Listen to researcher Svante Cornell about how the NATO process may have affected SAPO. Photo: SVT
He points out that the PKK has a clear capital of violence and refers to the murders of two PKK defectors in the 80s.
SVT's correspondent in Istanbul, Tomas Thorén, also testifies to the fear of the PKK. He knows of several cases where restaurateurs have allegedly been blackmailed. But no one dares to be interviewed by SVT.
Kurdish representatives deny
In France, a number of PKK supporters were recently convicted of, among other things, extortion. In Germany, too, a similar legal process has recently been concluded.
However, representatives of the Kurdish diaspora deny that the PKK is engaged in debt collection in Sweden.
"I have not heard from any of my members that they have in any way been pressured to give money to any Kurdish organization or party," said Ridvan Altun, representative of the umbrella organization NCDK.
Ahmed Karamus is President of the Kurdistan National Congress:
"Criminal elements are everywhere, but the Kurdish struggle for freedom distances itself from all criminal elements. Claims that want to link criminal elements to Kurdish politics bother us very much.
The man suspected of being behind the shooting denies any wrongdoing.