Date: Friday, 19 December 2025
Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard (M) holds a press briefing on the Ministry for Foreign Affairs' consular work.Sweden must not hesitate. Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard's historic visit to Eritrea opens a window that has been closed for almost 25 years. Could Dawit Isaak soon be freed?
The visit raises new hope that Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak will be released – after being imprisoned without trial for almost 25 years. It is the best chance Sweden has had since Dawit Isaak was rearrested after a few days at liberty in 2005.
At a press conference on Friday morning, Malmer Stenergard confirmed that it has been confirmed: Dawit Isaak is alive.
Eritrea is a country marked by a long war for independence from Ethiopia. The dictatorship is brutal and ranks at the bottom of the Reporters Without Borders global press freedom index . There is no independent media in the country, which is “notorious for holding journalists in prison for longer than any other country in the world.”
But now there are signs of thawing. In the past month, the regime has released more than a hundred prisoners, who had been in prison for up to 18 years without trial or access to a lawyer.
When Dawit Isaak was arrested in 2001, Sweden reacted slowly. It may have cost us the chance to get him released before the issue could gain prestige. That was the conclusion reached by the government's review commission three years ago.
When Dawit Isaak was arrested in 2001, Sweden reacted slowly
In the almost 25 years that have passed since then, Swedish governments and authorities have unfortunately gained more experience in trying to get Swedish reporters who have been arrested by easily supported despots around the world.
Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson spent 438 days in Kality prison in Ethiopia before they were pardoned and allowed to go home in September 2012. The pardon was a diplomatic solution that gave Ethiopia the opportunity to release the Swedes without losing face.
Joakim Medin was released in May after 51 days in a Turkish prison, accused of having links with terrorists and insulting President Erdogan. In his case, the government reacted both quickly and clearly, and diligent work at all diplomatic levels yielded results.
But after ten inconsolable years, the Swedish-Chinese publisher Gui Minhai is still in Chinese captivity.
Dawit Isaak was arrested after writing an article about politicians who wanted to see democratic reforms in Eritrea. Gui Minhai was kidnapped by Chinese agents in Thailand after publishing objectionable books. They are Swedish citizens who have been shackled for exercising their freedom of expression.
Neither quiet diplomacy nor loud protests have freed them. Let's hope that Maria Malmer Stenergard's "new approach" succeeds where others have failed.
Let Dawit Isaak come home.
