A Turkish court on Wednesday handed Swedish journalist Joakim Medin an 11 month suspended sentence for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan but the reporter remains imprisoned as he awaits trial on a more serious charge of terrorism.
Medin, who reports for Swedish newspaper Dagens ETC, was detained on March 27 upon arrival at Istanbul Airport, where he had flown in to cover the widespread protests sweeping the country. He was subsequently charged with insulting the president and belonging to a terrorist organization. The following day, he was incarcerated at the high-security Silivri prison outside Istanbul.
While the court has now suspended the sentence on the insult charge and formally ordered Medin’s release, he will remain in custody due to the ongoing investigation into the terror-related allegation. No trial date has yet been scheduled.
Prosecutors allege that Medin’s reporting included photos from a controversial protest in Stockholm in January 2023, where an effigy of Erdoğan was hanged. The same effigy later appeared at Stockholm’s Pride parade, this time holding an LGBTQ flag on a Kurdish float. These images, which reportedly accompanied articles authored by Medin, form the basis of the accusation.
Medin, however, denied any connection to the images or the protest itself, telling the court via video link from Silivri prison that he had been in Germany for work at the time of the rally. He stated that while he had posted links to his published articles on social media, he did not select the photographs used in the reports.
“I was not at this event. I didn’t know about its plans. I never posted any photo or video from it. I did not insult the president,” Medin said. “I was assigned to report on Sweden’s NATO accession photo choices were made by editors. I was just doing my job.”
Medin also made a heartfelt plea for release, noting that his wife is seven months pregnant with their first child.
His lawyer, Veysel Ok, urged the court to acquit him entirely. “My client had no intention to insult the president. He simply reported on a critical diplomatic matter, Sweden’s NATO accession,” Ok said. “He is not responsible for the imagery used. We demand his immediate acquittal.”
Press freedom advocates have criticized Turkey’s continued use of “insulting the president” laws as a tool to suppress dissent. Even teenagers, journalists, and celebrities, including a former Miss Turkey, have faced charges under the statute.
The second, more serious charge of belonging to a terrorist organization could carry a sentence of up to nine years in prison if Medin is convicted, an allegation he flatly denies.
Erol Önderoğlu of Reporters Without Borders condemned the court’s handling of the case. “It’s undemocratic that Medin was convicted at all, and deeply regrettable that this ruling isn’t enough to free him today,” Önderoğlu said. “We urge Turkish authorities to release the journalist, swiftly set a date for the second trial, and drop all charges.”
As the international spotlight turns once again to Turkey’s troubled record on press freedom, Medin’s fate now rests on a case that has yet to see a courtroom.
