JusticeSwedish journalist arrested in Turkey is in prison
SDA
29.3.2025 - 00:58
The Swedish journalist wanted to report on the mass protests in Turkey against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (archive picture)
Keystone
A Swedish journalist arrested on his arrival in Turkey has been taken to prison by the authorities. This was confirmed by the editor-in-chief of the Swedish newspaper "Dagens ETC" at the request of the AFP news agency.
Keystone-SDA
29.03.2025, 00:58
SDA
"We were not informed of the charges against him," added editor-in-chief Andreas Gustavsson. The journalist was traveling on behalf of the newspaper.
He had traveled to Turkey on Thursday to report on the mass protests there against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He was arrested on his arrival in Istanbul. According to Turkish media reports, he is accused of having "insulted" Erdogan and of being a "member of an armed terrorist organization".
Several arrests of media professionals
The Turkish authorities have been stepping up their crackdown on media reporting on the protests in the country for several days. On Monday, several media professionals were arrested in Istanbul and Izmir, including a photographer from the AFP news agency. They have since been released. On Thursday, Turkey also expelled the correspondent of the British broadcaster BBC. Two Turkish journalists were then arrested early on Friday morning.
The wave of protests in Turkey was triggered by the arrest of opposition politician Ekrem Imamoglu. The mayor of Istanbul, who has since been remanded in custody and suspended from office, is President Erdogan's most important political rival. According to the Interior Ministry on Thursday, more than 1,800 people have been arrested since the mass protests began.