Swedish journalist arrested over alleged terror ties, Turkish authorities say

March 30, 2025 journo

A Swedish journalist has been arrested on terror-related charges and insulting the president, the Turkish presidency has confirmed.

Joakim Medin, who works for the Dagens ETC newspaper and was assigned to cover protests over the jailing of Istanbul’s mayor, “has been arrested on charges of ‘membership in an armed terrorist organisation’ and ‘insulting the president'”, the presidency said.

Mr 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 Erdoğan was hung outside the city hall.

Authorities said Mr Medin was among 15 suspects identified for organising, promoting, or being linked to the demonstration.

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard confirmed on social media that Mr Medin was arrested on Thursday when his plane landed in Türkiye.

In a bulletin published by its “Disinformation Combat Centre”, the Turkish presidency said the journalist was “known for anti-Türkiye news and his closeness to the terrorist organisation PKK,” the banned Kurdish militant group.

“This arrest decision has no connection whatsoever to journalistic activities,” it said.

Dagens ETC had raised concerns over Mr Medin’s whereabouts after he was unreachable for two days.

The jailing of Mr Medin came just hours after the authorities released the last of 11 journalists arrested in dawn raids on Monday for covering the protests, among them the Agence France-Presse photographer Yasin Akgul.

Turkish authorities have also deported BBC journalist Mark Lowen this week, who had been covering the protests, after holding him for 17 hours on Wednesday, saying he posed “a threat to public order”.

In a statement on Thursday, Türkiye’s communications directorate said Lowen had been deported “due to a lack of accreditation”.

Reuters/AFP