Türkiye: Free PEN member Joakim Medin
‘By prosecuting Joakim Medin, a Swedish national, the authorities of Türkiye are clearly seeking to muzzle the foreign press and intimidate all journalists into silence. We urge the authorities to end their relentless clampdown on fundamental freedoms by promptly releasing Medin, and all writers held solely for their peaceful expression,’ said Burhan Sonmez, PEN International President.
29 April 2025 – The authorities of Türkiye should immediately release journalist, writer, and PEN Sweden member Joakim Medin and drop all charges against him, PEN International and PEN Sweden said today, ahead of his first hearing in Ankara on 30 April. Medin faces lengthy prison terms on fabricated insult and terrorism grounds if convicted.
A writer and journalist with Swedish newspaper Dagens ETC, Joakim Medin was detained by police on 27 March 2025 at Istanbul airport after travelling to cover nationwide protests and arrested the following day. A court in Ankara subsequently rejected an appeal challenging his arrest order. He is currently being held in the high-security Marmara prison in Silivri, near Istanbul. On 1 April, he sent a message from prison on a handwritten note that read, ‘Journalism is not a crime, not in any country.’
Medin has been charged with ‘insulting the president’, a charge that carries up to three years in prison. According to the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), which represents Medin, the charges against him stem from social media posts related to a 2023 protest in Stockholm, in which an effigy of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was hung by its feet. Medin denied all accusations, telling prosecutors that he merely reported on the incident in a professional capacity. The protest organisers promptly corroborated his statement.
Medin faces separate charges of ‘membership of a terrorist organisation’ and ‘making terrorist propaganda’ – charges that carry years in prison. The second indictment notably mentions his reporting for Dagens ETC, his social media posts as well as the content of his books, including Kobane – Den kurdiska revolutionen och kampen mot IS (Kobane – The Kurdish revolution and the fight against IS, published in 2016) based on his travels to Syria as a journalist – which the prosecution claims is evidence of his ties to a terrorist group.
‘Freedom of expression in Türkiye is severely repressed, and the number of imprisoned writers and journalists is frighteningly high. It is now of the utmost importance that Joakim Medin receives a fair trial where it is established that journalism is not a crime,’ said Kerstin Almegård, President of PEN Sweden.
The first hearing in the ‘insult’ case has been scheduled for 30 April at the 79th Criminal Court of First Instance in Ankara. Medin is expected to testify by video link. A hearing for the terrorism-related case has yet to be set. PEN International and PEN Sweden call for both cases against Medim to be dropped and urge his immediate and unconditional release.
PEN International further reiterates calls for the authorities of Türkiye to urgently uphold the rights to freedom of expression, information and peaceful protests, and to release all those detained on spurious grounds.
Additional information
Joakim Medin, born on 28 August 1984, is a well-known journalist, writer, and member of PEN Sweden, who reported from countries all over the world, including Syria, Hungary, Thailand and Türkiye. Before working as a journalist Medin was a teacher, and he continued to teach journalism students at the time of his arrest – including about working in high-risk areas. Medin specialises in Kurdish issues, having visited the Kurdish areas of Iraq and Syria multiple times for his work. He was previously detained for a week by Syrian security forces in February 2015 alongside his interpreter while on a research trip in Syria. He is the author of several books, including Kobane – the Kurdish revolution and the fight against IS (2016), Orbánistan – fear and hatred in the illiberal Hungary (2018), The Swedes of Thailand (2019), Essential workers (2021), Amanda – My daughter’s journey to IS (co-written with Patricio Galvez, 2022) and The Kurdish track – Sweden, Turkey and the price of a Nato membership (2023).
Relations between Sweden and Türkiye have been fraught in recent years. In 2022, the authorities of Türkiye requested that several individuals from Türkiye be extradited from Sweden to Türkiye in exchange for the country allowing Sweden to join NATO. In 2023, Türkiye summoned Sweden’s ambassador following protests in Stockholm comparing Erdoğan to Benito Mussolini, calling for protesters to be brought to account.
As documented in Identity on Trial: Persecution and Resistance – PEN International’s Case List 2025, over-broad counter-terrorism laws have been repeatedly used by the authorities of Türkiye to target writers and journalists who dare express dissenting views. Insult laws are a disproportionate and unnecessary response to the need to protect reputations. They have a chilling effect and undermine freedom of expression. PEN International calls upon the authorities of Türkiye’s to align counter-terrorism laws with international standards and to repeal all criminal defamation and insult laws.
Solidarity messages
Please take part in PEN Sweden’s campaign and send solidarity messages to Joakim Medin and his family via this online form: https://www.svenskapen.se/solidaritetshalsning-joakim-medin
Note to editors:
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