NCDK-Sweden welcomes closure of Palme case, expects apology

The Kurdish Democratic Society Center-Sweden said in the statement that it is "looking forward to hear an official apology, and de-criminalizing our associations and organizations," after Prosecutor closed Olof Palme case.

The Kurdish Democratic Society Center-Sweden (Navenda Civaka Demokratîk a Kurd li Swêd- NCDK) issued a statement on the decision by Chief Prosecutor Krister Petersson to close the case about the unsolved 1986 murder of the Social Democrat prime minister, Olof Palme.

The case’s chief prosecutor, Krister Petersson, said the case was being closed because the main suspect, Stig Engström, had died in 2000.

The NCDK underlined that "Palme was a friend of the oppressed people throughout the world, such as in South Africa, the United States, Palestine, Kurdistan, Latin America, Vietnam and many more. He struggled for human rights on the basis of social democratic values that advocate peace, democracy and the people's self-determination."

Olof Palme, added the statement, "was a friend of the Kurds during this time and continued to be a symbol and role model for international solidarity after his death. During his last term as prime minister, several contacts had been established with the Kurdish movement to rise up their voice and support them for the right to freedom and self- determination. He felt that the Kurds had been brutally colonized, and that they deserved to be free from oppression."

Unfortunately, as the statement recalled, "the murder of Olof Palme resulted in the first steps being taken to criminalize the Kurdish democratic freedom movement in Sweden. This appears to be a great paradox to his actual position on the issue. The Kurds became suspicious of the murder, which led to hundreds of Kurds being interrogated and arrested. Finally, the national liberation movement, the Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, was criminalized. The criminalization of PKK was enforced by most European countries during the most difficult times for the Kurds. The freedom struggle was thus accused of terrorism. The government chose to oust the chief of police, but we are, within the Kurdish democratic movement also hope for the new declarations of politicians today, when it is now clear that the Kurds are proven innocent of the murder."

The Kurdish Democratic Society Center-Sweden said in the statement that it is "looking forward to hear an official apology, and de-criminalizing our associations and organizations. We also look forward to an even clearer condemnation of Erdogan's regime and the violent and brutal repression of the Turkish state against the Kurdish people."

The statement also "urge the media, all intellectual and influential citizens in the Sweden public as well as all respected organizations to use their platforms to raise this issue and restore the Kurdish democratic movement in public eye. The Kurds who became victim of the murder will continue to struggle for compensation their public, private and national loses before Swedish and international courts. Justice will be restored and we expect an apology from the Swedish state after 34 years of unfair treatment and humiliation."