• Sweden edition

200,000 Swedes back 'Free Dawit Isaak' campaign

Published: 3 May 09 11:19 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/19214/20090503/

Almost 210,000 Swedes have signed up to a petition circulated by major Swedish newspapers as part of a five week campaign in support of the jailed Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak.

On Monday morning the petition demanding the release of Dawit Isaak, will be handed over to the Eritrean embassy on Lidingö in Stockholm by the editors-in-chief of Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, Aftonbladet and Expressen - Sweden's largest newspapers by circulation.

The petition will also be handed over to several other Eritrean embassies around the world.

Dawit Isaak arrived in Sweden as a refugee 20 years ago. Since 2001 he has been imprisoned without trial in the country of his birth, Eritrea.

The four Swedish newspapers launched a campaign on March 27th with a simple message "Free Dawit Isaak".

The campaign has since then raised attention and stimulated debate over Isaak's case, the human rights situation in Eritrea, and led to the collection of more than 200,000 signatures for the petition.

The five week campaign comes to a close on Monday, timed to coincide with World Press Freedom Day on Sunday.

The Eritrea position on the case of Dawit Isaak, who holds both Swedish and Eritrean citizenship, is that it is an Eritrean matter which has nothing to do with Sweden.



TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

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01:55 May 4, 2009 by tigger007
i hope they free him and it was a shame how they did this man. let's be realistic about this, sweden has been trying to free this man for years with no luck. this country has no real political power and this country almost has beg to get things done. it seems to me that sweden is a little red headed step child that countries really don't listen too.why is that? can it be because of sweden's neutral stand in WW2? i think sweden will have to offer something to get this man free(MONEY) who knows!! sweden has really made big steps to prove to the world that sweden is a major player in the world,so where's the RESPECT?!
23:14 May 6, 2009 by svenskdod
HA, Sweden neutral in WW2??? Try playing both sides against the middle, and not sure where to commit because the outcome was undecided... This is one of the reasons no one cares what Sweden has to say in world affairs; it's the same thing that happens when one of your friends is always indecisive, you just stop talking to them...
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