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Sweden rejects Chinese request to extradite fugitive former official

Sweden's Supreme Court said on Tuesday it was refusing the extradition of a Chinese man accused of economic crimes because the man risks persecution and the death penalty in China.

Published: 9 July 2019 12:09 CEST
Sweden rejects Chinese request to extradite fugitive former official
Swedish and Chinese flags pictured side by side at a Beijing event. File photo: Maja Suslin / TT

Qiao Jianjun, a former official of the Chinese state grain administration who has lived mainly in the United States since 2011, is wanted by Beijing as part of a sweeping government campaign against corruption.

He is accused of having embezzled over 200 million yuan ($29 million or 25.9 million euros), according to documents from Chinese authorities provided to Sweden.

Qiao Jianjun contests the accusations against him and claims he has been in Beijing's sights since joining the “China Democracy Party” in 2010.

“He denies the crimes and is only being hunted by Chinese authorities because they think he isn't faithful to the (Communist) party,” his lawyer, Henrik Olsson Lilja, told AFP.

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The Swedish top court said that there was a “real risk” that the accused could be sentenced to death, and assurances otherwise by Chinese authorities could not be given enough weight to justify extradition.

“The Supreme Court makes the assessment that there is a risk that he will be subjected to persecution because of his political activity and that he will be subjected to treatment in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights,” Justice Petter Asp said in a statement.

“Under these conditions, extradition cannot take place,” he added. Qiao Jianjun was arrested and detained in Sweden in June 2018 at the request of China.

He was released on June 19th, 2019 only to be again arrested a week later in another case, this time at the behest of the US, where authorities suspect him of money laundering in 2015.

Sweden has given the US until August 2nd to submit a more detailed account of the crimes he is suspected of before it decides on a potential extradition.

The Swedish government officially makes the final decision on extradition matters, but it is obliged to follow the Supreme Court's rulings. 

READ ALSO: Ex-Swedish ambassador to China suspected of crime over 'secret' meetings about jailed bookseller

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CRIME

Stockholm court fines Greta Thunberg over parliament climate protest

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was handed a fine for disobeying police orders after blocking access to Sweden's parliament during a protest.

Published: 8 May 2024 17:00 CEST
Stockholm court fines Greta Thunberg over parliament climate protest

Police removed Thunberg on March 12th and 14th after she refused to leave the main entrance, where she was protesting with a small group of activists for several days. MPs could still access the building via secondary entrances.

The court said it fined the activist 6,000 Swedish kronor ($551) and ordered her to pay 1,000 kronor in damages and interest.

Thunberg denied the charges of two counts of civil disobedience, according to an AFP journalist at the hearing.

Asked by the judge why she had not obeyed police orders, she replied: “Because there was a (climate) emergency and there still is. And in an emergency, we all have a duty to act.”

“The current laws protect the extractive industries instead of protecting people and the planet, which is what I believe should be the case,” she said as she left the courtroom.

Thunberg has been fined twice before in Sweden, in July and October 2023, for civil disobedience during similar protests.

In February, a London judge dropped charges against her for disturbing the peace during a demonstration against the oil industry in October in the British capital.

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