On 7 May, the trial of Joakim Medin, a Swedish journalist and member of the Swedish Union of Journalists, was postponed until 1 October. He is charged with “membership of an armed terrorist organisation” and “insulting the President”. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Swedish Union of Journalists (SJF), in calling on the Turkish authorities to acquit Medin, withdraw all charges against him and stop prosecuting journalists.
The third hearing in the case filed against Swedish journalist Joakim Medin took place on 7 May at the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court. It started with a one-hour delay and lasted for three minutes, as the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) reported.
SJF International Secretary, Victoria da Silva, attended the hearing as a representative of the union. “It is important for us to be here in Türkiye to show our support for freedom of expression, as well as our support for Joakim Medin personally, given the pressure he is under in this situation. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
Medin, a journalist for the Swedish daily newspaper Dagens ETC, was arrested upon landing in Istanbul on 27 March 2025. He had flown to Türkiye to cover widespread demonstrations against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu. Three days later, the Turkish authorities officially confirmed Medin’s arrest. In a statement, they accused the journalist of producing anti-Türkiye content and made the allegation that he had connections with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a banned group.
In April 2025, the reporter was charged with “membership of an armed terrorist organisation” and “insulting the President”. In late April, he received an 11-month suspended sentence for the latter charge.
Medin spent 51 days in custody, before returning to Sweden on 17 May 2025. Several organisations, including the IFJ, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the SJF, campaigned for his release.
Almost a year has passed since his release, yet the legal proceedings relating to the alleged terrorism charges he is facing are still ongoing. Medin also faces an additional charge of ‘making terrorist propaganda’, for which the journalist’s social media posts, news articles and books were presented as evidence. Medin denied the accusations, stating that he was acting in the public interest as a journalist. If found guilty, the journalist could face several years in prison.
“It is likely that the court will issue a warrant for Medin, meaning that he will not be able to travel to many countries since they may have an extradition treaty with Türkiye. This would cause him real problems as he is a foreign correspondent and wouldn’t be able to travel and report abroad,” added da Silva.
SJF President, Ulrika Hyllert, said: “It is a profound disgrace that Joakim Medin, a reporter who has done nothing but investigative journalism, continues to face such absurd accusations of terrorism.”
IFJ General Secretary, Antony Bellanger, said: “We strongly condemn the prosecution of Swedish journalist Joakim Medin and the misuse of legal proceedings by the Turkish authorities to obstruct legitimate journalism. The IFJ is calling for Medin to be acquitted immediately and for all unfounded charges against him to be withdrawn. No journalist should be arrested, deported or harassed as a result of their work.”
At the IFJ Congress in Paris, an urgent motion submitted by the SJF in support of Joakim Medin was adopted, demanding his acquittal by the Turkish authorities.
Source: IFJ
