Sweden – RSF, June 16, 2025
Chief Public Prosecutor Lennart Guné does not believe that any representatives of the Eritrean state need to be investigated for having imprisoned writer and journalist Dawit Isaak without trial for nearly a quarter of a century.
He has rejected the request for a review submitted by Reporters Without Borders.
Crimes against humanity are among the most serious crimes that exist. They are so serious that all countries have a responsibility to prosecute individuals suspected of such crimes.
Last autumn, Reporters Without Borders filed a complaint against Eritrea’s president, his advisors, several ministers, and members of the military and security apparatus, accusing them of crimes against humanity.
We first filed a complaint in 2014. At that time, the Prosecutor General concluded that there were grounds to suspect crimes against humanity in Dawit’s case. He also stated that the matter should be investigated. However, to avoid interfering with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ negotiations to secure Dawit’s release, he chose not to proceed.
Ten years later, we filed a new complaint, pointing out that the previous argument against opening a preliminary investigation no longer holds after so many years without results.
