Sweden reporter held in Eritrea 7 years

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Activists are again calling for the release of a Swedish journalist who has been imprisoned in Eritrea for the past seven years.

The anniversary of Dawit Isaak's incarceration was marked Tuesday by the delivery of a petition calling for his release to the Eritrean Embassy in Stockholm.

Isaak was among 20 journalists and opposition members who were arrested by Eritrean authorities in 2001 when the government in the small east African nation banned the free press. Isaak, who was born in Eritrea, was working for the news magazine Setit at the time.

Leif Obrink, head of the group Free Dawit, told the Swedish news agency TT that Isaak was reportedly holding up fairly well.

"He is doing better than many other journalists who were arrested at the same time, thanks to the work of the foreign ministry and all of the news reports about him," said Obrink.