Journalists go to prison to highlight ;plight of jailed colleagues

Journalists go to prison to highlight plight
of jailed colleagues

04 October, 2011 | The Local
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Two Swedish journalists are planning to go to jail of their own
accord in a bid to draw attention to the plight of other writers in
captivity.

John Wirfält and his colleague Sara Murillo Cortes plan to be
incarcerated at the Kronoberg facility in Kungsholmen,
Stockholm, to raise awareness of the ongoing cases involving
Dawit Isaak, Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson and also to
openly criticise the government for not doing more to get them
released.

Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak has been held in an
Eritrean prison since 2001 without trial and is considered a traitor
by the Eritrean government.

Amnesty International has highlighted his case frequently and has
called for his immediate and unconditional release.

Freelance reporters Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson have
been held in an Ethiopian jail since the beginning of July, facing
terrorist charges.

The two Swedish journalists were allegedly in the country
investigating Lundin Petroleum, a Swedish oil and mining
company, at the time they were arrested together with members of
the ONLF guerilla, according to reports in the Swedish media.

Wirfält told daily Dagens Nyheter (DN), ”This is a new way to
draw further attention to the imprisoned Swedish journalists Dawit
Isaak, Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson. We want to show our
criticism of the foreign ministry, which has been the case with
Dawit for several years, but also in the second case (Schibbye
and Persson). We also want to highlight the vulnerable situation
that freelance journalists find themselves in when they go out
without having the back-up of an editorial team.”

He added that they are hoping many more journalists will join in
with their action, claiming that 40 others have already pledged
their support.

The protesting pair plan their prison stay sometime before
October 15, when the trial of Schibbye and Persson is set to take
place in Ethiopia.

Courtesy