(WiPC/IFEX) – The following is a 10 May 2005 WiPC statement: PEN LEARNS OF THE RELEASE OF TWO HONORARY MEMBERS IN RECENT DAYS International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee has learned of the release of two writers in the past two weeks. All had been subject to PEN appeals. Their release is testimony to the […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – The following is a 10 May 2005 WiPC statement:
PEN LEARNS OF THE RELEASE OF TWO HONORARY MEMBERS IN RECENT DAYS
International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee has learned of the release of two writers in the past two weeks. All had been subject to PEN appeals. Their release is testimony to the commitment and dedication of writers world wide who have campaigned for their freedom. A third writer has been released on bail, and a fourth on expiry of his sentence.
Iranian writer Ardeshir Gholipour, held in an Australian refugee detention centre since his arrival in May 2000, was finally freed on 29 April. A writer who had been involved in the democracy movement, Gholipour had fled Iran in March that year, fearing for his life. Several writers, including one with whom Gholipour had worked, had been murdered during the previous years at the hands of Iranian police. In Australia, Gholipour lived under constant threat of forced return to Iran, and his physical and psychological health deteriorated, leading him to attempt suicide in prison. PEN members in Australia rallied to his support, lobbying the government, visiting him in prison and raising publicity. PEN’s advocacy was central to the decision to release Gholipour.
Fatimah Nisreen was imprisoned in the Maldives in early 2002. Her “crime” was to join three others in setting up and writing articles for an internet site that was critical of the authorities. During her imprisonment, she was banished to an island far from home, although she was eventually allowed to return to the Maldives capital, Malé, to live under house arrest. Sentenced to five years in prison, she was not due to be released until February 2007. On her release on 9 May, Nisreen thanked all those who had campaigned on her behalf, adding that this international pressure had been central to securing her freedom. Of her three colleagues, one managed to flee the country. The other two, Mohamed Zaki and Ahmed Didi, remain detained. Their case featured in the 10 December 2004 launch of PEN’s year-long campaign on the world-wide suppression of internet writers. She is a member of the English PEN Centre.
In November 2003, writer Salah Uddin Shoaib Chaudhury was arrested at an airport in Bangladesh as he prepared to fly to Israel to attend a writers’ symposium. He was accused of espionage and of having links with Israeli intelligence. Chaudhury had been active in his attempts to improve relations between Israel and the Muslim community, and is known for his peace activism. His articles on the rise of support for al-Qaeda in Bangladesh shortly before his arrest had led to public debate. After a long struggle to have his request for bail accepted, he was freed pending trial on 2 May. Chaudhury was the subject of PEN’s Rapid Action Network appeals. He is also an honorary member of PEN USA.
The 7 April release on expiry of his sentence of the Tibetan monk, Jampel Changchup, marked the end of 16 years in prison. Arrested with a number of other monks in September 1989, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison, reduced by three years, for having translated into Tibetan and distributed the text of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Throughout his long imprisonment, members of PEN Centres in Canada, Sydney (Australia) and PEN USA (Los Angeles) maintained their support and lobbied on his behalf. The remaining member of what is known as the ‘Drepung Monastery Group’, Ngawang Pulchung, is not due to be freed until April 2008 after serving a 19-year sentence.
Ten years ago, almost to the day, on 12 May 1995, the Nigerian author Ken Saro Wiwa wrote to PEN on the anniversary of his arrest in May 1994. “Whether I live or die is immaterial. It is enough to know that there are people who commit time, money and energy to fight this one evil among so many others predominating world wide. If they do not succeed today, they will succeed tomorrow. We must keep on striving to make the world a better place for all. . . each one contributing. . . in his or her own way.” Saro-Wiwa was executed six months later but his call to action served to spur PEN members in their support to help all writers under attack. The recent releases are a direct consequence of this activism, and PEN members will continue to struggle for the release of the over 200 other writers and journalists who are detained today, and the hundreds more who are living under daily threat and harassment.
