GPS News
TERROR WARS
Sweden moves to toughen anti-terror laws
Sweden moves to toughen anti-terror laws
by AFP Staff Writers
Stockholm (AFP) Feb 2, 2023

Sweden's government on Thursday proposed new legislation to ban activities linked to extremist groups, in a move to toughen anti-terror laws, a key demand from Turkey to approve Stockholm's NATO bid.

The proposed legislation widens the scope of activities that can be prosecuted.

"This is a wider criminalisation that takes aim at a slew of activities within a terrorist organisation that don't need to be concretely connected to a specific terrorist crime," Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told a press conference.

Actions such as handling equipment, organising camps or locations for meetings, cooking or being in charge of transport for designated terrorist organisations would be criminalised under the new law, which Strommer stressed was a "considerable widening of the scope compared to current legislation".

In November, the country amended its constitution to allow the proposed bill to move forward, as it was deemed to infringe on Sweden's freedom of association laws.

The government intends to put the draft legislation to a vote in parliament in March, with the aim of it entering into force in June.

Sweden has been adopting tougher anti-terror laws since 2017, when an Uzbek asylum seeker who had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State group (IS) drove a truck down a busy shopping street in Stockholm, killing five people.

Cracking down on extremist groups has also been a key demand from Ankara before it will approve the country's stalled bid to join NATO.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden and Finland abandoned their long-held policy of non-alignment and applied to join the military alliance in May of 2022.

But Turkey has blocked the bids, accusing Sweden in particular of providing a safe haven for what it considers "terrorists", especially members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Among other things, pro-Kurdish demonstrations in Sweden, where PKK flags have been common, have been a thorn in Ankara's side.

But Strommer noted that "partaking in a demonstration or at a meeting will not in itself be punishable".

He also said flag-waving in itself would not be criminalised but such activities could potentially be used as evidence in court.

The government intends to put the legislation to a vote in parliament in March, with the aim of it entering into force in June.

Negotiations between Sweden and Turkey have stalled since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticised Swedish police for allowing a far-right activist to burn a copy of the Koran outside Turkey's Stockholm embassy.

Related Links
The Long War - Doctrine and Application

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
TERROR WARS
British Army serviceman in court for terror offence
London (AFP) Jan 28, 2023
A serving member of the British Army appeared in court on Saturday charged with a terror offence and a bomb hoax. Daniel Abed Khalife, 21, was remanded in custody after his brief appearance in London's Westminster Magistrates' Court. London police said he was charged on Friday over two incidents at a Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Stafford, central England, near the army barracks where he lives. Khalife is accused of "attempting to elicit information of a kind likely to be useful to a perso ... read more

TERROR WARS
North Korea ruling party to hold key meeting on agriculture

Evolution of wheat spikes since the Neolithic revolution

In drought-stricken Ethiopia, the herders' heartache

After drought, winter rains revive Iraq's famed marshlands

TERROR WARS
DARPA collaborates with commercial partners to accelerate quantum computing

New polymers could enable better wearable devices

Nanoscale ferroelectric semiconductor could power AI and post-Moore's Law computing on a phone

Two quasi-2D perovskite-based heterostructures: Properties and applications

TERROR WARS
India opens its largest helicopter factory in new defence push

Colombia says 'object' spotted overhead after Chinese balloon warning

US recovering balloon debris, won't return it to China

Beijing says second balloon flying over Latin America is Chinese

TERROR WARS
Spain's Menorca gets green light to limit cars

Arctic cold 'no sweat' for electric cars in Norway

Electric car sales gain pace despite hurdles

Electric cars gain record market share in Europe

TERROR WARS
US tech giant Dell to cut 5% of its global workforce

Australia seeks 'unimpeded trade' with China after costly sanctions

Markets mixed as early Fed-fuelled rally peters out

Pandemic to paradise: Chinese tourists return to Bali after three years

TERROR WARS
Brazil deploys police as miners flee Yanomami territory

Planting more trees could decrease deaths from higher summer temperatures in cities by a third

Lebanese villagers try to stem illegal logging scourge

Indigenous land rights help protect Brazil's forests

TERROR WARS
LeoLabs expands weather radar coverage of Southern Hemisphere in the Indo-Pacific region

Esri joins the Overture Maps Foundation to help build interoperable open map data

Global land rush

UConn study clears up cloudy data for improved satellite imagery

TERROR WARS
Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.