A Swedish journalist arrested upon arrival in Turkey at the end of March was charged with “insult to the president” and “crimes related to terrorism”, risking up to twelve years in prison, his employer announced on Wednesday 23 April. Joakim Medin, 40, will be tried on April 30 for the accusation chief of “insult to the president,” said the newspaper he works, the daily life of the left Dagens etc,, In an article published on his website. No judgment date has yet been set for the second charge chief.
This trial will be open to the public, which means that journalists, organizations and the embassy will have the opportunity to attend the hearing, according to Dagens etc. “This is still good news, because we can now meet the accusations”said in the Journal Veysel Ok, one of the lawyers for Joakim Medin.
The journalist was arrested on March 27 in Istanbul where he came to cover the wave of demonstrations that rocked Turkey after the arrest of the Opposition mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu. He has since been detained in Silivri prison, near Istanbul.
Accused of being linked to the Kurdistan workers' party
According to Dagens etcJoakim Medin is also accused by the Turkish authorities of being linked to the Kurdistan workers' party (PKK).
During his interrogation by Turkish police, the journalist denied his participation in a demonstration of the PKK in Stockholm in January 2023 during which a effigy of Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been hanged by the feet, according to MLSA, a Turkish Association for the Defense of Press Freedom.
Also questioned on a photograph showing him with a flag of the Kurdish people's protection units (YPG), which the Turkish authorities consider as an extension in Syria of the PKK, the Swedish said that the cliché had been taken after a person held the banner.
“I can only repeat that he is a journalist who has exercised his job. Joakim is not a criminal, and certainly not any terrorist. I think he can't wait for his business to be judged, simply because he is innocent ”said its editor -in -chief, Andreas Gustavsson, quoted in the article published on Tuesday.
Source: Lemonde