A Turkish court on Thursday held the second hearing in the case against Swedish journalist Joakim Medin, who is standing trial on a charge of membership in a terrorist organization, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) reported.
The hearing at the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court was attended by Sweden’s Consul General Karin Hermmarck, Swedish Magazine Publishers Association (ST) President James Savage and representatives of the Swedish Journalists Union (SJF), the Swedish Media Publishers Association (TU), the ST and the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS).
The court said it would await the outcome of a formal request sent to Sweden for information related to the case and for clarification on the handling of digital materials seized during the investigation. The next hearing was scheduled for May 7, 2026.
Medin was detained on March 27, 2025, at Istanbul Airport after arriving to report on protests that followed the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a leading opposition figure and the strongest political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
His detention and subsequent arrest have sparked an outcry from international press freedom groups and the Swedish government, which has called for his immediate release and demanded consular access.
İmamoğlu was arrested on March 23 on corruption charges, widely seen as politically motivated. His detention on March 19 led to widespread protests unseen in Turkey since the Gezi Park protests of 2013. The protests were met with heavy-handed police force, including tear gas and plastic bullets.
Prosecutors later filed two separate indictments against Medin, accusing him of insulting the president and of membership in a terrorist organization, citing his alleged attendance at a 2023 Stockholm rally involving supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
Medin was sentenced to 11 months in prison in the insult case, a conviction that is under appeal. In the terrorism-related case Medin was held in pretrial detention for about 50 days before being released on May 16, 2025, following an appeal by his lawyers from the MLSA. He remains on trial.
Medin and his lawyers deny the accusations, saying the charges are based on his journalistic work.
Turkey, which is one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, according to press freedom organizations, dropped to 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in early May.
