Betlehem Isaak is a Swedish-Eritrean writer and the daughter of Dawit Isaak, the longest arbitrarily detained journalist in the world.
In 2001, Dawit Isaak, who is a dual Swedish-Eritrean citizen, was arrested and imprisoned without trial during Eritrea’s crackdown on dissent under dictator Isaias Afwerki. Isaak’s newspaper, Setit, was forcibly closed at the same time along with all other independent media in the country. While imprisoned, Isaak has been repeatedly tortured, leading to multiple hospitalizations.
In 2009, despite Sweden’s efforts to free him, Afwerki publicly stated that Isaak would not be released or stand trial, adding “we know how to handle his kind.”
From Sweden, Betlehem Isaak has continued advocating for her father’s release. In 2024, she accepted the prestigious Edelstam Prize for courage in the defense of human rights on her father’s behalf.
