Sweden – VIA TT, Oct. 27, 2025
Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak was 36 years old when he was arrested in 2001. Today, he turns 61.
He has been held incommunicado for over 24 years without charge or trial, and without access to family, consular assistance, or legal counsel.
Eritrean authorities rounded up Dawit and nine other independent journalists as part of a brutal crackdown on free speech and internal dissent. Today, he and his colleagues are the longest imprisoned journalists in the world.
It has been a month since Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard met with Eritrea’s foreign minister and demanded Isaak’s release on humanitarian grounds. She also requested that he be granted consular access. There is currently no indication that Eritrea is ready to comply with Swedish demands.
Sustained and concerted follow-up action is urgently needed until these requests are granted and Dawit can be reunited with his family in Sweden.
Last month, we supported Dawit Isaak’s daughter, Betlehem Isaak’s public call on her government of Sweden to finally take decisive action on her father’s behalf — before it is too late.
“If my father is alive, he must be rescued now.” — Betlehem Isaak, Dawit Isaak’s daughter
