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A court in Ankara on Wednesday sentenced Swedish journalist Joakim Medin to 11 months and 20 days in prison for “insulting the [Turkish] president,” according to his Turkish legal team. The court suspended the sentence and ordered his release, but Medin remains in custody due to separate terrorism-related charges.
Medin, who was arrested March 27 upon arriving in Istanbul, is also accused of “spreading terrorist propaganda” and “membership in a terrorist organization.” The charges stem from his attendance at a 2023 pro-Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rally in Stockholm, which he was covering as a journalist, and his travels to Kurdish regions.
Despite the suspended sentence for the insult charge, Medin continues to be held as prosecutors pursue a second case against him. The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), a Turkish human rights group defending Medin, said the journalist is being investigated under Turkey’s expansive anti-terror laws, which have been widely criticized by rights groups for targeting journalists, academics, and dissidents.
“The second case is more complex and will take longer to resolve,” Medin’s lawyer, Veysel Ok, told reporters in Ankara.
Turkish prosecutors alleged that Medin’s reporting, books, and social media activity aimed to legitimize groups such as the PKK, the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), and their affiliates. They claim his coverage, which focused on northern Syria and other Kurdish regions, reflects “organizational loyalty,” and point to his lack of reporting on other global conflicts as evidence of bias.
If convicted, Medin could face more than 20 years in prison.
He appeared via video link from Marmara Prison in Istanbul before the 79th Criminal Court of First Instance in Ankara, where he explained that the case originated from two articles he wrote for Swedish readers about reactions to Turkey’s NATO accession process.
Medin denied attending the rally cited in the indictment, said he did not choose the article’s photo, and noted that editorial decisions were made by his newspaper.
He also described being detained without a translator or lawyer, relying on Google Translate to communicate with police, and learning of the charges only after his incarceration.
“I had no intention to insult the president,” Medin said in his defense. “From a journalistic ethics perspective, it is not right to demean any individual. President Erdoğan is a political figure who has been in office for 20 years, and reporting on him is in the public interest.”
His attorney Ok emphasized that Medin acted within journalistic norms.
“The rules of journalism are clear both in Turkey and internationally. A reporter writes the article; the headline, subhead, and visuals are determined by the editorial team. Medin was simply fulfilling his professional duty,” he said.
Ok added that the article was published in Swedish for a Swedish audience and was unrelated to Turkish domestic matters. “To prosecute this in Turkey raises serious concerns for both judicial standards and the country’s international reputation.”
While Medin appeared on screen, several international observers were present in the courtroom, including Jonas Sjöstedt of the European Parliament, Swedish MP Ulrika Westerlund, Sweden’s Ambassador to Turkey Malena Mard, and representatives from Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Turkish Press Union DİSK Basın-İş, the Turkish Journalists’ Association, and MLSA.
Sjöstedt called for Medin’s release, writing on X, “Journalism is not a crime.”
RSF also urged Turkish authorities to free the journalist.
“The article of law that criminalizes ‘insulting the President’ disregards international human rights standards and has led to the arrest and prosecution of Swedish journalist Joakim Medin and many other journalists from Turkey,” said RSF’s Turkey representative, Erol Onderoglu.
“We call on the authorities to free Medin, who has been arbitrarily detained for a month, and all the journalists unjustly held behind bars,” he added.
