Dawit Isaak Wins Swedish Rights Prize After 23 Years in Detention

Stockholm, Nov 11 – Dawit Isaak, a Swedish-Eritrean journalist who has been held without charge in Eritrea for over 23 years, has been awarded the Edelstam Prize for his brave fight for freedom of expression and human rights.

Isaak was arrested in 2001 during a government crackdown on journalists and political figures. The Edelstam Foundation honored him for his “exceptional courage” in standing up for press freedom and human rights, despite being imprisoned incommunicado for more than two decades.

Isaak is considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says he is one of the longest-held journalists in the world. UN experts have repeatedly called for his release and expressed concern about his health and whereabouts, with fears he may no longer be alive. Isaak would now be 60 years old.

His daughter, Betlehem Isaak, will accept the prize on his behalf in Stockholm on November 19.

Isaak, who fled Eritrea in 1987, returned to his home country in 2001 to help build an independent press. He co-founded Setit, Eritrea’s first independent newspaper, but was arrested shortly after it published articles calling for political reform.

Eritrean authorities have provided no information about Isaak’s condition, but reports in 2020 suggested he may still be alive.

The Edelstam Prize honors the legacy of Swedish diplomat Harald Edelstam, who helped thousands of Chileans escape political persecution during the 1973 military coup in Chile.