Medin does not have to be present when the allegations of participating in a terrorist organization and spreading terrorist propaganda are tried in a Turkish court in September. The safest is to keep away from Turkey.
It can be dangerous for him. Traveling in the world can be dangerous if he is convicted. But it is only one possibility of several. He can be released, or get a conditional sentence, says Veysel Ok.
Joakim Medin himself says during a press conference that he has been banned from returning for five years, but that he will report more about Turkey – and that he hopes to be able to return in the future.
The Turkish defense team will argue that he should be acquitted. The charges are entirely linked to Medin's journalistic work – something that is not criminal in Turkey. Veysel Ok thinks they have good chances. The fact that he received a relatively light sentence – conditional imprisonment for eleven months – in the first trial for insulting the president bodes well, as does the fact that he is now freed and allowed to return to Sweden.
That he was released was not a big surprise for me. But it went very quickly.
For Veysel Ok, who works with the Turkish human rights organization MLSA, which focuses on press freedom, the work continues.
For Joakim, but also for journalists who are still imprisoned in Turkey. So we must continue.
