Turkey arrests Swedish journalist over ‘insulting the president’ and ‘terrorism’

Swedish journalist Joakim Medin has been arrested in Turkey on charges of “membership of an armed terrorist organisation” and “insulting the president.”

Andreas Gustavsson, editor-in-chief of Dagens ETC newspaper, said that Medin, who was in Turkey to cover the ongoing protests against the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, had not been heard from for two days.

Erik Larsson, head of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Sweden, said in a statement following Medin’s arrest: “Targeting journalists in this way is unfortunately nothing new in Turkey. However, in recent years (the government’s) tactics have changed and journalists are being silenced through legislation and internet censorship.”

Medin’s arrest comes at a time of an intensifying debate about press freedom in Turkey.

Mark Lowen, a correspondent for the UK-based public broadcaster BBC, was deported on Thursday.

The BBC confirmed that Lowen, who was detained on 26 March, was deported on the morning of 27 March.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya had earlier announced that 1,418 people had been detained since 19 March, the day Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained.

Many journalists were among those detained.

Seven of the journalists arrested earlier in the week had been released by Thursday but still face charges.

The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) announced on Thursday that Yasin Akgül, Kurtuluş Arı, Kurtuluş Arı, Gökhan Kam, Ali Onur Tosun Bülent Kılıç, Hayri Tunç and Zeynep Kuray, who were covering the protests in Saraçhane, were released following objections.