The Turkish journalist Ahmet Dönmez in exile was attacked in Sweden
New York, March 21, 2022 – Swedish authorities should conduct a rapid and thorough investigation of the latest attack on journalist Ahmet Dönmez and determine if he was the target of his work, the committee said to protect journalists on Monday.
On Saturday, March 19 in Stockholm, unknown persons drove Dönmez’s car from behind and, when he got out of his vehicle, continued to abuse him, according to news reports and tweet by the journalist.
Dönmez drove his six-year-old daughter home from school at the time of the attack, according to these reports, who said he suffered head trauma and was hospitalized in a stable condition.
Dönmez publishes reports on Turkish politics and alleged corruption, as well as political comments on his Personal website, Twitterand Youtube pages; he has about 147,000 followers on Twitter and about 55,000 on YouTube.
“Swedish authorities must quickly and thoroughly investigate the recent attack on Turkish journalist Ahmet Dönmez in exile, determine if it was related to his reporting and hold everyone involved accountable,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s program coordinator for Europe and Central Asia. “Swedish authorities must provide security for Dönmez and ensure that he can live and work without fear for his or his family’s safety.”
Dönmez worked as a reporter for the Turkish daily Zaman until 2015, when he fled to Sweden “due to political pressure” according to his website. The Turkish authorities shut down Zaman 2016 and has accused its staff of having links to the religious movement Fethullah Gülen, which authorities have branded as a terrorist organization, as CPJ has documented.
CPJ emailed the Swedish police for a comment but received no immediate response.