Leading dailies Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet as well as tabloids Expressen and Aftonbladet dedicated editorials and front pages Friday to the "Free Dawit Isaak" campaign, calling for his release amid growing concerns for his health.

They urged the Swedish government "to work more actively" for Isaak's release.

Isaak went to Sweden in 1987 as a war refugee, but returned to Eritrea in the 1990s to become a reporter at an independent newspaper. He was one of several journalists who were arrested and imprisoned without a trial on Sept. 18, 2001, after demanding press freedom.