Sweden's minister of foreign affairs, Carl Bildt made a statement in support of imprisoned journalists Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson during the Parliamentary Debate on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
The statement is included in the Swedish Statement of Government Policy and also mentions Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak, who has been imprisoned in Eritrea since 2001.
The statement declares:
"Efforts to bring about the release of Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak are continuing. The two Swedish journalists who have been imprisoned and sentenced in Ethiopia should be released."
To include the statement in the Swedish Statement of Foreign Policy is an important demonstration of Sweden's standpoint, says political scientist Marie Demker to Göteborgs-Posten.
"Now Sweden as a state says this, and then it becomes Swedish foreign policy."
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External link
Statement of Government Policy
