Turkïye: RSF calls on the authorities to release Swedish journalist Joakim Medin
The special correspondent for the Swedish media Dagens ETC has been held in the high-security Marmara prison in the city of Silivri, since 30 March. Arrested three days earlier upon his arrival in Istanbul, he is accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and “belonging to an armed terrorist organisation” because of his presence at a pro-PKK rally in Stockholm in 2023. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the authorities to release the journalist, who specialises in Kurdish issues, and to end the crackdown on news professionals.
“They're taking me in for questioning now.” It was 12:02 p.m. in Istanbul when Joakim Medin, special correspondent for the Swedish media Dagens ETC, sent this alert message to his editor-in-chief on 27 March. It was the last news the editor-in-chief would have on the journalist for 24 hours, despite multiple attempts by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to clarify the situation. Eventually, the Turkish authorities publicly announced the journalists’ arrest. On 28 March, a few hours after the announcement, the Turkish State media reported the arrest, stating the charges brought against the journalist were “insulting the president,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and “belonging to an armed terrorist organisation.” The following day, the Turkish authorities confirmed these presets for Joakim Medin’s imprisonment, accusing the reporter of having participated i in a rally in Stockholm in 2023 in support of the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the Turkish government and most of its Western allies. Joakim Medin had indeed been at the rally, as it was part of his job — he reported on it as a journalist. According to the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), after Joakim Medin was arrested, he was questioned about his journalistic work in Syria, where he frequently travelled for about ten years to report on the ground, during an interrogation that took place without a lawyer or interpreter. While the Turkish authorities claim they opened the investigation into Joakim Medin immediately after the rally in January 2023, the journalist travelled safely to Turkïye in May of the same year to cover the presidential election, according to RSF information.
On 30 March, Joakim Medin, who has specialised in Kurdish issues for the past ten years or so, was transferred to the high-security Marmara prison, where he was visited by a representative from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Through his lawyer, he sent a message from prison, handwritten on a piece of paper: “Journalism is not a crime in any country.”
"We are extremely concerned about the transfer of journalist Joakim Medin to the high-security Marmara prison. The reporter, who works for the Swedish daily Dagens ETC, is accused of ‘insulting the president,’ a charge regularly used to silence journalists. Based on the evidence currently available, RSF calls for the immediate release of the special correspondent and for the Turkish authorities to respect their commitments to the right to reliable information.
A recognised specialist in Kurdish affairs
The Dagens ETC journalist has visited the Kurdish areas of Syria and Iraq multiple times to report on Kurdish issues. In 2015, he was arrested by the Syrian authorities while on a reporting trip. He has authored two books on the future of the Kurds: Kurdspåret: Sverige, Turkiet och priset för ett Natomedlemskap (“The Kurdish Track: Sweden, Turkey and the price of NATO membership”), which was shortlisted in 2023 for the Guldspaden award for Swedish journalism, and Kobane – Den kurdiska revolutionen och kampen mot IS (“Kobane – The Kurdish revolution and the fight against ISIS”).
Turkïye’s all-out crackdown on journalism
Politician Özgür Özel, the voice of the opposition to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, continues to announce demonstrations every Wednesday and Saturday, and the Turkish authorities keep responding with an offensive against journalists and the media. Since 24 March, ten journalists have been arrested in Istanbul and Izmir, the country's third-largest city. Joakim Medin, who is still in custody, is one of them, as is BBC reporter Mark Lowen, who was expelled from Turkish territory on 27 March, accused of posing a “threat to public order.”
In response to the protest movement triggered by the arrest on 19 March of Ekrem İmamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and the president’s main riva, the Turkish media outlets have been arbitrarily punished with sanctions ranging from fines to broadcasting bansby the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), which is dominated by supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In August 2024, RSF published an analysis of the impact Erdogan’s ten years of presidency has had on journalism. At least 77 journalists had been convicted of “insulting the president” during this period, according to figures from RSF local partner Bianet.
