Sweden – Dagens Nyheter, April 04, 2025
ETC journalist Joakim Medin has been arrested in Turkey. Three other Swedish citizens are already imprisoned in authoritarian states. Defending human rights against other countries takes time and resources. However, it is the government’s responsibility to protect its citizens, and therefore, this work must come at a cost, write four commentators.
This is an opinion piece in *Dagens Nyheter*. The writer is responsible for the views in the article.
Three Swedish citizens have been unlawfully imprisoned for many years on unfounded charges in authoritarian states: Dawit Isaak in Eritrea for 23 years, Ahmadreza Djalali in Iran for 9 years, and Gui Minhai in China for 9 years. Recently, another Swedish citizen has been imprisoned—Joakim Medin in Turkey.
At its core, this is about the situation in the authoritarian states, where the illegal detentions are just a part of a larger issue. But beyond Swedish law, international law obligates the government to take action and ensure these citizens are protected from torture and inhuman treatment, have the right to a fair trial, are represented by legal counsel, and maintain communication with their families.
What the government has done and is doing so far is unclear to us. The government refers to quiet diplomacy, but after many years, this policy has not yielded any visible results.
It is encouraging that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs recently summoned the Iranian ambassador due to the urgent situation regarding Ahmadreza Djalali’s health. But it is unreasonable and undignified for Sweden, as a democratic rule-of-law state, not to act more actively and decisively against these serious violations of Swedish citizens’ rights.
In situations involving citizens’ lives, pressure must be placed on the authoritarian state detaining them. It requires a swift and effective organization to show that Sweden will not give up. We need to demonstrate through words and actions that these states cannot act with impunity. Sweden’s reactions must be powerful, visible, and well-organized. The government needs to work actively on these cases.
Sweden also lacks a centralized approach to enable quicker and more effective information exchange and the utilization of specific expertise. There are no methods to ensure that intelligence confidentiality is lifted in time so that experts and family members receive the information they are entitled to. A clear method is needed to engage families as a resource in the work. When the United States recently organized and invited international cooperation on this issue, Sweden was conspicuously absent—despite being highlighted by these serious cases.
Defending human rights against other countries takes time and effort. But it is the government’s duty to protect its citizens, and therefore, this work must come at a cost.
We propose that the following measures be taken:
