On October 2, 2026, the French branch of the P.E.N. Club will host a meeting in Paris to discuss the case of Dawit Isaak, a Swedish-Eritrean journalist, writer, and playwright arrested in Eritrea in 2001. On September 23, 2001, Dawit Isaak was arrested at his home in Asmara, five days after Eritrean authorities shut down all independent media in the country. He has never been formally charged or brought to trial, and his location and health remain unknown. On September 30, 2026, 133 journalists from around the world joined an appeal by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calling for the release of Dawit Isaak and three other imprisoned journalists: Temesgen Ghebreyesus, Seyoum Tsehaye, and Amanuel Asrat. The event organized by the French P.E.N. Club will bring together representatives from several organizations, including PEN Eritrea in Exile, PEN Austria, and RSF, as well as notable figures such as Awet Fissehaye, Beilula Tsehaye, Antoine Bernard, Björn Tunbäck, Wolfgang Martin Roth, Éric Emeraux, Arnaud Benedetti, Saba, and Boualem Sansal. Francis Coffinet, president of the Writers in Distress and Freedom of Expression Committee of the French P.E.N. Club, will read excerpts from Wolfgang Martin Roth’s play Dawit Isaak, ou À chaque époque son visage odieux. The meeting will be moderated by Louise L. Lambrichs from the French P.E.N. Club. Dawit Isaak, co-founder and co-owner of Setit, one of Eritrea’s leading private newspapers, had published articles echoing calls for political reform within the country. He was 36 years old and held both Eritrean and Swedish citizenship. He left for Sweden in 1987, obtained Swedish citizenship in 1992, and returned to live in independent Eritrea. He also helped found the Shewit Children’s Theatre, which targets young audiences, and wrote in Tigrinya. Among his works are Bana: The Affair of Mussie and Mana, published in 1988, and The Thirty Thousand, which was broadcast as a serial on Eritrea’s national radio after independence. In September 2001, the situation changed with the closure of private newspapers on September 18 and the arrest of several journalists in the following days. Dawit Isaak was arrested on September 23. No formal charges were filed against him, and he was never brought before a court or given access to a lawyer. Swedish consular representatives were also denied permission to meet with him. A brief exception occurred in November 2005, when Dawit Isaak was temporarily released, officially for medical reasons. He was able to reconnect with his family before being arrested again shortly after. Since then, no family member has been able to see him. A credible testimony submitted to the United Nations indicated he was still alive in September 2020. In December 2025, after an official visit to Asmara, the Swedish government stated they still considered him alive but had not received any concrete proof of life or visitation rights. In 2016, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights reaffirmed a previous decision calling on Eritrea to release or quickly and fairly try 18 journalists arrested since September 2001, grant them access to their families and lawyers, and provide compensation. In 2026, RSF identified four journalists still held in secret since that time: Dawit Isaak, Temesgen Ghebreyesus, Seyoum Tsehaye, and Amanuel Asrat. None have been tried. Their location and health status remain uncertain. RSF describes them as the journalists held without trial for the longest time in the world. In 2017, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) awarded Dawit Isaak its Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. In Sweden, several of his writings were compiled under the title Hopp: historien om Moses och Mannas kärlek & andra texter (« Hope: The Love Story of Moses and Manna and Other Texts »). Starting in 2014, a translation project was launched to make his works accessible in several European languages, including English, French, and German. In 2019, 750 translated copies of Hopp were distributed to European parliamentarians in Brussels, turning Dawit Isaak’s literary work into a concrete tool for his liberation campaign. His name was also given to a library in Malmö dedicated to freedom of expression, the Dawit Isaak-biblioteket, which houses about 6,000 books and focuses on banned, censored, or threatened books worldwide. In 2023, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Dawit Isaak’s imprisonment was arbitrary, noting that no legal basis was provided to justify his detention, which was linked to his exercise of freedom of expression, and that he received no judicial guarantees. Experts demanded his immediate and unconditional release, as well as compensation and reparations. They also considered the conditions under which Dawit Isaak and his colleagues disappeared from the sight of their families and any independent authority to be tantamount to enforced disappearance. Follow-up by the United Nations the following year found that no measures had been taken by Eritrean authorities to implement this recommendation. The struggle has also moved to Swedish courts. In September 2024, RSF Sweden, along with Dawit Isaak’s legal team, filed a new complaint against Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and several high-ranking officials for acts that could constitute crimes against humanity. However, these efforts have not led to the opening of a criminal investigation to establish responsibility. By late 2025, however, Stockholm changed its approach: on December 17 and 18, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard visited Asmara. It was the first visit by a representative of the Swedish government to Eritrea since the country’s independence was recognized in 1993. Upon her return, the minister stated she had emphasized the need for Dawit Isaak’s release and his reunion with his family. However, she admitted she had not obtained consular access or direct proof of life. In her February 2026 foreign policy statement, the Swedish government described the visit as a “new approach” aimed at reopening dialogue on his case.