The Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak was imprisoned in Eritrea almost 22 years ago. His daughter Betlehem Isaak has long fought for her father’s cause and against the regime in Eritrea.
– I stand with the counter-demonstrators, but I do not stand behind the violence, she says.
Betlehem Isaak was not there on Thursday when violence broke out in connection with the Eritrean cultural festival at Järvafältet in Stockholm. But she is not surprised that it happened.
– I don’t defend it, but I understand why it happens. Those loyal to the regime support the violence and oppression that is going on in Eritrea, says Betlehem Isaak.
– Eritreans are tired of fleeing. Many want to go home and build a liberal democratic Eritrea. Where human freedom and rights are respected, where the country develops.
Dawit was arrested in 2001
Dawit Isaak co-founded Eritrea’s first free newspaper. He was arrested on 23 September 2001 and has since been held without trial.
At the latest in 2021, media reported that UN experts had reliable sources that Dawit Isaak was alive in September 2020. There is no clear evidence of life, but also no information to the contrary.
– We know that several who were arrested at the same time are dead, that news has not come regarding Dawit, says Björn Tunbäck, board member of Reporters Without Borders and SVT employee, who has long been involved in the case.
Reporters Without Borders has reported the President of Eritrea, Isaias Afwerki, for crimes against humanity in the case of Dawit Isaak.
See the interview with Betlehem Isaak in the clip above