Sweden Urges Turkey to Release Detained Journalist Joakim Medin

May 9, 2025: Sweden has stepped up diplomatic pressure to have Swedish journalist Joakim Medin released from detention in Turkey since March 27, 2025. Medin is accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and membership in a terrorist group.

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard spoke with her Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, while attending an EU foreign affairs conference in Warsaw to talk about Medin’s situation. Stenergard stressed the value of press freedom and called for Medin’s release quickly.

Medin, a Dagens ETC journalist from Sweden, was detained upon arrival in Istanbul to report on ongoing protests after Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s arrest. His detention is attributed to a 2023 protest in Stockholm during which a President Erdoğan effigy was used. Medin has claimed he was not present at the protest, saying he was in Germany and knew nothing about the event.

In April, a Turkish court gave Medin an 11-month suspended sentence for insulting the president. But he is still held in custody awaiting trial on terrorism charges, which he denies. The terrorism charges are over alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey deems a terrorist group.

Medin has filed several instances of rights violations while in detention, such as denial of access to legal and consular assistance. He has also sent letters from prison claiming his innocence and stating that his work is journalistic in nature. In a letter, he wrote, “All I did was journalism. That should not be something that lands anyone in prison — not in Turkey, not anywhere else.”

The European Parliament and other human rights groups have demanded Medin’s release on an immediate basis, citing issues of freedom of the press and human rights in Turkey. PEN International called the charges “fabricated” and asked Turkish authorities to stop their crackdown on basic freedoms

Sweden still insists that Medin must be released and has reiterated that democratic values as well as the freedom of the press must be respected. Sweden-Turkey relations have strained since the case, especially as Sweden joined NATO recently, with Turkey initially not supporting it as it was opposed to Kurdish communities in Sweden.

As Medin is held in detention, global scrutiny of his case highlights the continued difficulties for journalists working in Turkey and the wider implications for press freedom globally.

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