Swedish newspapers to publish appeal for reporter jailed in Eritrea

Sep 24, 2009, 9:05 GMT

Stockholm - Several rival Swedish newspapers are to join together to publish a joint appeal on behalf of a Swedish-Eritrean journalist held for eight years without trial, the Expressen newspaper said Thursday.

Dawit Isaak was arrested on September 23, 2001 - the arrest coincided with the Eritrean government's moves to shut down independent newspapers.

The article - planned to be published November 19 - will be written by Peter Englund, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy that awards the coveted Nobel Prize for Literature.

Englund said the assignment was 'a great honour' and a 'duty for all who care about freedom of speech.'

The proposal of a joint publication was floated Wednesday by Expressen's editor-in-chief Thomas Mattsson on the 8th anniversary of Isaak's jailing.

Several of Sweden's leading newspapers said they planned to publish the appeal including Expressen's Stockholm rival Aftonbladet.

Earlier this year almost 210,000 people in Sweden, which has a population of around 9 million, signed a petition for his release.

Isaak became a Swedish citizen in 1992 after seeking asylum in 1987. Isaak lived in the west coast city of Gothenburg until 2000 when he returned to Eritrea to work for the independent weekly Setit.

He was briefly released on November 19, 2005, but was arrested a few days later.

In May, President Isais Afeworki told Swedish broadcaster TV4 that Eritrea had no plans to release Isaak stating that he had made 'a big mistake and he is accountable for what he did.'

Afeworki declined to detail the nature of Isaak's alleged crime, and ruled out a trial.

Swedish newspapers have campaigned for Isaak's release as have human rights advocacy groups such as Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders and the Swedish Journalists' Union.