PEN Belarus joins the statement of PEN International about PEN member Joakim Medin.
By prosecuting Joakim Medin in absentia on spurious grounds and barring him from returning to Türkiye, the authorities are sending a chilling message to all journalists and writers that they too could be next. We urge them to cease their relentless crackdown on independent voices – whether at home or abroad,’ said Burhan Sonmez, PEN International President.
22 September 2025 – The authorities of Türkiye should immediately drop bogus terror-related charges against journalist, writer, and PEN Sweden member Joakim Medin, PEN International, PEN Sweden and PEN Norway said today, ahead of his first hearing in absentia in Istanbul on 25 September. Medin faces years in prison if convicted. The organisations further call on the authorities to lift his entry ban and overturn his previous conviction on preposterous ‘insult’ grounds.
A writer and journalist with Swedish newspaper Dagens ETC, Joakim Medin was detained by police on 27 March 2025 at Istanbul airport after travelling to cover nationwide protests and arrested the following day. Medin was subsequently charged with ‘insulting the president’ based on social media posts related to a 2023 protest in Stockholm, in which an effigy of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was hung by its feet. Medin denied all accusations, telling prosecutors that he merely reported on the incident in a professional capacity. On 30 April 2025, the 79th Criminal Court of First Instance in Ankara found him guilty and handed him a suspended sentence of 11 months and 20 days in prison. His appeal is ongoing. Medin remained in pre-trial detention in the high-security Marmara prison in Silivri, near Istanbul, on separate terrorism grounds, before being released and transferred to Sweden on 16 May 2025. The authorities of Türkiye placed him under an entry ban, an administrative decision that prevents him from returning to the country for the next five years.
Medin is to stand trial on charges of ‘membership of a terrorist organisation’ and ‘making terrorist propaganda’ on account of his reporting for Dagens ETC, his social media posts as well as the content of his books, including Kobane – Den kurdiska revolutionen och kampen mot IS (Kobane – The Kurdish revolution and the fight against IS, published in 2016) based on his travels to Syria as a journalist – which the prosecution claims is evidence of his ties to a terrorist group. The charges carry a lengthy prison term.
‘The indictment against Medin, like other indictments we have previously reviewed, is riddled with legal violations. However, two points stand out in particular. First, a book launch event is included in the indictment as evidence of a crime. Second, the prosecutor treats Medin’s “failure to report on other countries with the same intensity” as proof of membership of a terrorist organisation. In other words, Medin is being prosecuted not only for what he said, but also for what he did not say. As PEN Norway, we call for these baseless charges against Medin to be dropped immediately and for this pressure on journalists to end at once’, said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, Secretary General, PEN Norway.
The first hearing in the ‘terror’ case against Medin has been scheduled for 25 September at the 13th High Criminal Court in Istanbul. Medin will be represented by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), who previously defended him in the ‘insult’ case. PEN Norway will observe the hearing. Since Medin is subject to an entry ban to Türkiye, at the request of his lawyers the court decided to take his statement before the Swedish authorities via a letter rogatory procedure. The process is ongoing. If found guilty, Medin might be subject to an international arrest warrant, which would seriously impact his ability to carry out his work. An investigation has reportedly been launched against fifteen people – half of them writers – in relation to the aforementioned 2023 protest in Stockholm.
‘Medin’s case sends an alarming signal to all journalists and writers covering Türkiye that the authorities could seek their arrest and extradition should they dare to explore politically sensitive topics. Türkiye’s ongoing and relentless campaign of transnational repression adds to the gravity of the situation’, said Hanna Nordell, Managing Director, PEN Sweden.
PEN International, PEN Sweden and PEN Norway denounce the impact Joakim Medin’s prolonged prosecution has on his work, as well as on the broader journalistic and literary communities in Türkiye and beyond. The organisations stand with Medin and will continue to closely monitor developments.
Additional information
Joakim Medin, born on 28 August 1984, is a journalist, writer, and member of PEN Sweden, who reported from countries including Syria, Hungary, Thailand, Türkiye and Ukraine. Medin specialises in Kurdish issues, having visited the Kurdish areas of Iraq and Syria multiple times for his work. He is the author of several books, including Kobane – the Kurdish revolution and the fight against IS (2016), Orbánistan – fear and hatred in the illiberal Hungary (2018), The Swedes of Thailand (2019), Essential workers (2021), Amanda – My daughter’s journey to IS (co-written with Patricio Galvez, 2022) and The Kurdish track – Sweden, Turkey and the price of a Nato membership (2023). Medin recalled his time in prison and reflected on press freedom in Türkiye in a compelling piece published in PEN/Opp on 19 September 2025, and in a powerful interview with PEN Norway published on 21 September 2025.
As documented in Identity on Trial: Persecution and Resistance – PEN International’s Case List 2025 – over-broad counter-terrorism laws have been repeatedly used by the authorities of Türkiye to target writers and journalists who dare express dissenting views. Transnational repression remains a concern, with several writers from Türkiye being tried in absentia and facing years-long judicial harassment. PEN International, PEN Sweden and PEN Norway call upon the authorities of Türkiye’s to align counter-terrorism laws with international standards, to cease their transnational repression of independent voices and to repeal all criminal defamation and insult laws.
Note to editors:
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