Türkiye Frees Swedish Journalist Who was Convicted for Insulting President Erdogan

Swedish journalist Joakim Medin with his wife journalist Sofie Axelsson attends a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, Saturday May 17, 2025. (Oscar Olsson/TT via AP)
Swedish journalist Joakim Medin with his wife journalist Sofie Axelsson attends a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, Saturday May 17, 2025. (Oscar Olsson/TT via AP)
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Türkiye Frees Swedish Journalist Who was Convicted for Insulting President Erdogan

Swedish journalist Joakim Medin with his wife journalist Sofie Axelsson attends a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, Saturday May 17, 2025. (Oscar Olsson/TT via AP)
Swedish journalist Joakim Medin with his wife journalist Sofie Axelsson attends a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, Saturday May 17, 2025. (Oscar Olsson/TT via AP)

A Swedish journalist arrested in Türkiye in March when he traveled there to cover nationwide protests was released and returned home to Sweden on Saturday.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X that “hard work in relative silence has paid off” and that Joakim Medin's release was due to intensive lobbying by the Swedish foreign ministry and European colleagues.

“Welcome home Joakim!” Kristersson wrote on X.

Last month, a Turkish court had convicted Medin of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Medin was given an 11-month suspended prison term, but initial reports said he would remain in custody awaiting the outcome of a separate trial on terrorism-related charges, The AP news reported.

Medin, a journalist with the daily Dagens ETC, was detained March 27 as he arrived at Istanbul airport to cover last month’s nationwide protests following the arrest of Istanbul’s popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu. The journalist was jailed days later on charges of insulting Erdogan and membership of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

Swedish media reported that Medin landed early Saturday at Stockholm airport, where he was welcomed by his wife and the Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard.

“All is well after all. I’m really tired in body and mind. But I feel good,” he said, according to Dagens ETC. “The pressure on my chest disappeared as soon as we lifted off the ground and we started heading home.”

Medin also said later on Saturday that “I’ve been thinking from day one about what to say at this moment. Long live freedom: freedom of the press, freedom of speech and freedom of movement," Sveriges Television reported.

Medin said that he spent his prison time in solitary confinement in a ward for political prisoners. He said that he had not been subjected to violence, but that the isolation took its toll.

Kristersson said on X that “it is well known that Sweden and Türkiye have different views on quite a few and big things. But we have also developed a climate of cooperation that allows us to discuss quite difficult issues.”

Local media reported that while Medin's separate trial on terrorism charges would still take place, he would not be required to attend it.



27 Inmates are Still at Large Following an Israeli Airstrike during the 12-day War, Iran says

In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)
In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)
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27 Inmates are Still at Large Following an Israeli Airstrike during the 12-day War, Iran says

In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)
In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)

Iran said Tuesday 27 inmates were still at large after an Israeli airstrike last month targeted Evin prison in the north of the capital, Tehran, local media reported.

The airstrikes were part of Israel’s 12-day bombardment of Iran that killed about 1,100 people. while 28 were left dead in Israel in Iranian retaliatory strikes, The Associated Press said.

Judiciary’s news website, Mizanonline, quoted spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying 75 prisoners had escaped following the strike, of which 48 were either recaptured or voluntarily returned. He said authorities will detain the others if they don't hand themselves over.

Jahangir said the escapees were prisoners doing time for minor offenses.

Iranian officials said the Israeli strike killed 71 people, but local media reported earlier in July that 80 were left dead at the time, including prison staff, soldiers, inmates and visiting family members. Authorities also said five inmates died.

It’s unclear why Israel targeted the prison. The Israeli Defense Ministry had said that 50 aircraft dropped 100 munitions on military targets “based on high-quality and accurate intelligence from the Intelligence Branch.”

The New York-based Center for Human Rights had criticized Israel for striking the prison, seen as a symbol of repression of any opposition, saying it violated the principle of distinction between civilian and military targets.