Jailed Swedish Eritrean Journalist Wins Rights Prize

A Swedish Eritrean journalist held incommunicado without charge in Eritrea for more than 23 years won a Swedish rights prize on Monday for his fight for freedom of expression, the jury said. Dawit Isaak was among a group of around two dozen people, including senior cabinet ministers, members of parliament and independent journalists, who were seized in a purge in September 2001. He was awarded the Edelstam Prize “for his outstanding contribution and exceptional courage in standing up for freedom of expression, one’s beliefs, and in the defense of human rights,” the Edelstam Foundation said in a statement….Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says he and his colleagues detained at the same time are the longest-held journalists in the world…Eritrea has provided no news about him, and there are fears he may no longer even be alive. He would be 60 years old. (AFP)