The arrest of Medin also intervenes on the deportation of Mark Lowen, corresponding for the BBC, as well as the imprisonment of a dozen Turkish journalists covering the demonstrations.
However, the Turkish government said the mandate targeting the Swedish journalist has “nothing to do with journalistic activities”.
This is Medin’s participation in a demonstration of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Stockholm in 2023. The PKK is labeled a terrorist group in many European countries, including Sweden.
The presence of PKK members in Sweden is at the heart of the complicated relationship between Turkey and the Nordic country. This is one of the reasons why Turkey has been one of the last countries to approve Stockholm’s candidacy to join NATO last year – and Ankara finally extracted concessions, including the extractions of Turkish citizens residing in Sweden.
Erik Larsson, who directs journalists without borders in Sweden, criticized Medin’s arrest. “This is an assault not only on Joakim Medin, but on us all. We have the right to know what’s going on in Türkiye,” he said.
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