Articles by PEN International
Senior lecturer and writer released
(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC has received confirmation that senior lecturer and writer Jasim Hussain Ali was released on 10 November 2000. Ali, a senior lecturer in Business Administration at Bahrain University, was arrested at his home in Hamad Town on 1 November. Prior to his arrest, intelligence services had reportedly interrogated him about his articles […]
Journalist Akbar Ganji brought to court; serious concerns of ill-treatment
(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC is seriously concerned about reports that journalist Akbar Ganji has been ill-treated in prison. International PEN is calling for a full and public investigation into Ganji’s allegations of ill-treatment in detention, and urges the Iranian authorities to take immediate measures to ensure that Ganji is treated humanely. International PEN considers Ganji […]
Flora Brovina arrives home after release
(WiPC/IFEX) – Flora Brovina, the poet, paediatrician and womenâs rights activist detained since April 1999 and sentenced to twelve years in prison, arrived home in Kosovo yesterday evening to a welcome by hundreds of well-wishers. She had been released on order of Yugoslav President Kostunica. Arrested in April 1999, she was transferred to Serbia in […]
Flora Brovina released
(WiPC/IFEX) – International PEN has received confirmation that the poet, doctor and rights activist, Flora Brovina, was released at 3:30 p.m. (Belgrade time) on 1 November 2000. She was reportedly driven from Pozarevac Prison in an International Committee of the Red Cross vehicle towards Kosovo to be reunited with her family. Her release is said […]
Justice minister refuses presidential recommendation that Flora Brovina be amnestied
(WiPC/IFEX) – On 21 October 2000, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica announced that he had initiated procedures to release the imprisoned poet and doctor Flora Brovina, who is serving a twelve-year sentence for “terrorism”. However, on 26 October, the outgoing minister of justice refused to accept the initiative and Brovina remains imprisoned. In a letter to […]
Two jailed journalists on hunger strike to draw attention to their cases
(WiPC/IFEX) – At midnight (local time) on 26 September 2000, journalists Antero Gargurevich Oliva and Juan de Mata Jara Berrospi started an indefinite hunger strike in Miguel Castro Castro prison, Lima. In a letter to International PEN, Gargurevich explained that the two men had decided on their course of action “on account of the lack […]
Detained poet Flora Brovina speaks from prison
(WiPC/IFEX) – On Saturday 14 October 2000, Flora Brovina, the detained poet and Kosovo Albanian rights activist, issued a statement from prison in which she said she would refuse release while other Kosovo Albanians remained in Serb prisons. According to press reports from Belgrade, Flora Brovina issued the statement following the court’s decision to postpone […]
Writers unite to free Turkish playwright Esber Yagmurdereli
On the occasion of the upcoming Turkish National Day, October 29, two hundred and sixty-seven writers, members of PEN from thirteen countries – among them Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, Ivan Klima, Harold Pinter, Josef Skvorecky and Susan Sontag, have signed an appeal addressed to the Turkish Prime Minister to release Esber Yagmurdereli, the noted human […]