A Swedish journalist arrested in Turkey in March has been charged with insulting the president and alleged terrorism offenses, facing up to 12 years in prison if convicted, his employer said Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported.
Joakim Medin, 40, is set to stand trial on April 30 for the charge of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Swedish newspaper Dagens ETC reported. A court date for the terrorism charge has not yet been scheduled.
Medin is being held in Silivri Prison and is expected to appear before an Ankara court via video link, according to Dagens ETC. He faces up to three years for the insult charge and nine years for the terrorism charge.
The journalist was detained upon arrival in Turkey, where he planned to report on nationwide protests that erupted after the detention and imprisonment of İstanbul’s opposition mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, a key political rival to Erdoğan.
“I can only reiterate that he is a journalist who has done journalistic work,” said Dagens ETC editor-in-chief Andreas Gustavsson. “Joakim is not a criminal, definitely not some kind of terrorist. I think he himself is looking forward to having his case tried, simply because he is innocent.”
Turkish authorities have accused Medin of membership in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state for decades. Turkey classifies the PKK as a terrorist organization.
Gustavsson said the terrorism charge is “the most serious” of the accusations.
“From what we know so far, Turkey is trying to claim that all the journalistic work that Joakim Medin has produced about Turkey are terrorist acts,” he said. “This is of course an absurd accusation.”
