SWEDEN
12 March 2025
Sweden Must Apply Equal Pressure for All Imprisoned Citizens, Say Human Rights Advocates, in debate article in Journalisten (12 March 2025)
The debate article titled “Ställ samma krav för Dawit Isaak och Gui Minhai” (“Hold the Same Standards for Dawit Isaak and Gui Minhai”) was published in Journalisten, the official publication of the Swedish Union of Journalists (Journalistförbundet), with a readership of approximately 18,750. It calls for equal diplomatic engagement by the Swedish government in defending all Swedish citizens unjustly imprisoned abroad.
Signatories
Caroline Edelstam – Chairperson of the Edelstam Foundation
Erik Larsson – Chairperson of Reporters Without Borders Sweden
Susanne Berger – Senior Fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, Montreal
Summary of the Article
While welcoming the Swedish government’s firm stance in demanding the release of Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali, the signatories stress that the same level of commitment must be extended to other imprisoned Swedish citizens: journalist Dawit Isaak and publisher Gui Minhai.
- Dawit Isaak has been imprisoned in Eritrea for over 23 years without trial, charges, or legal access. His location and health remain unknown.
- Gui Minhai was abducted by Chinese authorities in Thailand in 2015 and sentenced to ten years in a secret trial in 2020. His family has not heard from him in nearly seven years.
The authors call on the Swedish government to demand their immediate release on humanitarian grounds, ensure access to medical care, and facilitate contact with their families.
They argue that Sweden must live up to its international human rights commitments and that consistency in defending its citizens is crucial for maintaining national and international credibility. The firm stance shown in Djalali’s case should become the standard approach for all cases involving serious human rights violations.
