Only hours after landing at Arlanda, he and his wife Sofie Axelsson held a press conference at ETC's editorial office in Stockholm. Medin tells that the news of his release came – suddenly a Turkish guard repeated a word he didn't understand. A fellow inmate translated that he would be free.
It's indescribably nice to be back with Sofie, he says.
It's very nice to be able to speak as I want, write and move as I want.
His wife, who is expecting their first child, journalist Sofie Axelsson, received a call on Thursday that he would be released.
Joakim will be by my side when our daughter is born. I'm so grateful to everyone who has supported us, she says with tears in her throat.
Saw Imamoglu
Medin was arrested immediately after landing at Istanbul airport on March 27 and was then placed in the high-security prison Marmara in Silivri outside Istanbul. The first ten days in captivity had him with nothing to do and the total isolation in the 18 square meter cell wore him down.
That's when the thoughts, anxiety, and anguish overwhelm you, he says.
To maintain his mental strength, he has been strength training daily and focusing on goal images.
At Marmara, many of Turkey's political prisoners are held, including the imprisoned mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, whom Medin says he saw on "several" occasions.
And two of my closest neighbors were Kurdish asylum seekers who had been deported from Sweden to Turkey and whom I have written about in many articles and in my latest book, says Medin, who quickly began interviewing the men through the door hatch.
I've had daily conversations with them.
At the same time, he felt comfort when he received massive support from home, nationally and internationally – not least when the EU Parliament condemned the arrest. He believes that the high pressure from several directions played a significant role.
I also believe that the core family messages have been very important, and not least the peace process in Turkey, he says, highlighting that it's no coincidence that many Kurdish prisoners were released the same day.
Thanks the Ministry for Foreign Affairs
The allegations of terrorist offenses will continue to be tried in Turkey in his absence. The process is likely to take 4-5 years, according to Medin, who will need to be extra cautious about which countries he travels to during that time.
My journalism seems to have annoyed them, but this won't stop it, I'll continue to write about Turkey and many other countries.
Journalist Joakim Medin traveled to Istanbul on March 27 on assignment for the newspaper Dagens ETC to report on widespread protests in the country, following the arrest of Istanbul's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
Medin, who has visited Turkey as a journalist several times, was arrested immediately at the airport.
He was then transferred to the high-security prison Marmara in Silivri outside Istanbul, where many of Turkey's political prisoners are held or have been held. Medin was held on the same ward as the imprisoned mayor Imamoglu.
On April 23, he was charged with participating in a terrorist organization, spreading terrorist propaganda, and insulting the president.
In a first trial in Ankara regarding the charge of insulting Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he was sentenced to a conditional sentence for insulting.
He was released on May 16 and landed in Sweden shortly after midnight on May 17. But even though Medin has been released and has been allowed to leave the country, the allegations of terrorist offenses will continue to be tried in Turkey in his absence.
