Dawit Isaak

Dawit Isaak ( born October 27, 1964 in Eritrea) is a Swedish journalist, who has been detained since September 2001, probably for political reasons in an Eritrean prison. Isaac had come in 1987 as a refugee to Sweden and had in 1992 the local citizenship accepted. After the independence of Eritrea in 1993, he had returned to his homeland, where he worked as a journalist for the newspaper he co-founded Setit and stood up for freedom of speech.

The four largest Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, Aftonbladet and Expressen lead in March 2009 a campaign for the release of Dawit Isaak under the name of free Dawit.

Awards

• In November 2009, Isaac was awarded the Prize of the Swedish PEN Tucholsky section. The Committee stated, "the name Dawit Isaak has become for the fight for freedom of speech and freedom of the press is a synonym for the entire Swedish people ". The prize is normally awarded to writers who are persecuted or threatened in their own country and therefore must live in exile.
• October 2011: Golden Pen of Freedom Award from the World Association of Newspapers, the representative was passed in Vienna to his brother Esaias.