Sweden – Reporters Without Borders, Sept. 23, 2025
September 23 marks the anniversary of Dawit Isaak’s arrest in Eritrea. It serves as a reminder of the failure of ten successive Swedish governments to secure his release.
On Thursday, September 26, Reporters Without Borders will hold a seminar — Eritrea: A Prison for Journalists and Poets — at the Gothenburg Book Fair, focusing on press freedom in the country. September 23 marks the anniversary of the Swedish journalist’s arrest in Asmara in 2001.
Dawit Isaak was arrested along with other independent journalists and editors when the regime cracked down on the country’s free press. Since then, Dawit Isaak has been held in prison without trial or sentencing, in violation of international law. Today, he is the journalist who has spent the longest time behind bars anywhere in the world for his work. Reporters Without Borders highlights his case every year as a symbol of the state of press freedom under authoritarian regimes.
Despite repeated international demands for his release, the Eritrean government continues to refuse to provide any information about his health or the location where he is being held.
Swedish Civil Society Has Acted
The reason for his imprisonment is well known. Dawit Isaak advocated for democracy in the independent newspaper Setit. Swedish civil society has not hesitated to support his cause. A library in Malmö has been named the Dawit Isaak Library. Swedish newspapers have joined the campaign for his release. Swedish free-speech organizations, together with the group FreeDawit, have organized demonstrations, petitions, and protests outside the Eritrean embassy on Lidingö in Stockholm.
