Swedish journalist Kaj Joakim Medin, who was in Turkey to cover protests against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s arrest, has been jailed pending trial on terrorism charges, Turkey’s Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said.
Medin was detained in Istanbul as part of an investigation launched after a protest in Stockholm in January 2023, where a mannequin resembling President Tayyip Erdogan was hung outside the city hall.
Authorities said the Swedish journalist, who was jailed on March 28, was among 15 suspects identified for organising, promoting or being linked to the demonstration.
He was charged with “insulting the president” and “membership in a terrorist organisation”.
Medin’s employer, Dagens ETC newspaper, had raised concerns over his whereabouts after he was unreachable for two days.
Dagens ETC editor-in-chief Andreas Gustavsson told Swedish TV4 on March 27 that Medin had done nothing wrong and was merely being punished for doing his job as a reporter.
Turkish authorities also cited the journalist’s past reporting from conflict zones in Syria, Iraq and southeastern Turkey between 2014 and 2017.
He was formally arrested via video conference by an Ankara court after being questioned in Istanbul.
Sweden has asked the Turkish ambassador to Stockholm to clarify the allegations against Medin and to demand that he received urgent access to consular services, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told public broadcaster SVT.
