“It has been highly interesting as a journalist to gain insight into the Turkish prison complex. I had contact with Istanbul's imprisoned mayor and with the world-famous political prisoner Osman Kavala, who sent recipes and books to me. But it was difficult to understand that this absurd situation was happening to me,” he said at a press conference in Sweden following his release.
Medin was detained in March. In April, he was given an 11-month suspended sentence for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He still faces a second trial on charges of alleged membership in a terrorist organization and disseminating terrorist propaganda, according to local media outlet SVT Nyheter.
He had traveled to Turkey to report on widespread protests over the March arrest of Imamoglu, who is widely viewed as the main political challenger to Erdogan.
Medin described his imprisonment as a surreal experience. He said he spent his time in isolation performing strength training using water jugs as improvised weights. He learned of his release only when a guard repeatedly said a word in Turkish that he did not understand.
“A guard came and repeated the same word over and over. But I don't speak Turkish and didn't understand what he was saying. I asked a neighbor to translate and he said the word was ‘release,’” Medin recounted.
He was eventually transferred to a police station in Istanbul.
“There I got to see my lawyers and Sweden’s consul general and I understood that something positive was happening. Until that moment, I thought there could be a misunderstanding and that I wouldn’t be freed at all,” he said.
His wife, Sofie Axelsson, who is pregnant, said she learned of Medin’s pending release in a text message from his lawyer on Thursday.
“This nightmare is over. Joakim will be by my side when our daughter is born. It’s hopeful that so many people care about Joakim and freedom of speech,” she said.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said broad support for Medin contributed to diplomatic efforts in the case. She added that Sweden’s recent accession to NATO helped improve bilateral relations with Turkey and facilitated Medin’s return - though no formal agreements were made.
“I want to be clear. There has been no exchange deal and no demands have been made,” Stenergard said.
Swedish media reported that days before Medin’s release, the Swedish Security Service (Säpo) arrested two individuals, including an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Stenergard stressed the investigation was not initiated at Turkey’s request.
“Sometimes separate events may seem related, even when they are not,” she said.
This isn’t the first time Medin has been detained while reporting. In 2015, he was arrested in Syria and spent a week in the custody of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
