PEN International

Source: Amnesty International On 27 February 1995, Chan Rotana, editor of “Voice of Khmer Youth”, was sentenced to one year in prison at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. He was also fined five million Cambodian riels (approx US$ 2,000). He remains free pending an appeal hearing of his case. Chan Rotana was convicted under Article […]

**Updates IFEX CH alerts dated 17, 8 and 6 February 1995** Ken Saro-Wiwa’s lawyers report that they were attacked in court after the case against him resumed on 21 February 1995. They say the court was surrounded by military personnel who were screening people who entered the court. They reportedly refused to permit journalists from […]

Sources: lawyers, press agencies, Amnesty, various **Further to IFEX CH alerts dated 8 and 6 February 1995** The trial against jailed Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa is due to begin on 21 February 1995, after its postponement on 6 February. Saro-Wiwa is charged with four counts under the Civil Disturbances Tribunal Decree of 1987. The charges […]

**Updates IFEX CH alert dated 20 January 1995; for background, see IFEX alerts of 11 January, 21, 2 December, 17 November, and various 1994** The trial against Nigerian writer and human rights campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa has been adjourned to 26 February 1995 in order to allow him more access to his lawyers. The case against […]

Gulf States human rights monitors report that Sheikh Al-Ali, the author of a number of books on Islamic law, was arrested on 16 January 1995 and that his home was searched and books seized. Arabic newspapers suggest he may have been arrested for the expression of his views on Islam, or for his criticism of […]

Journalist Jaouhari Sahnoun died in a Tunis hospital on 25 January. He worked for “al-Fajr”, the pro-al-Nahda newspaper, and was a former member of the board of directors of the Tunisian League of Human Rights. Sahnoun had been arrested on 23 March 1991 and was sentenced in the mass al-Nahda military trials of 1992 to […]

SOURCES: CDF, AI, ICJ, Human Rights Watch/Middle East, various Syrian journalist Nizar Nayyuf was arrested in January 1992 after his wife and three-year-old daughter were reportedly arrested in his place a few weeks earlier. He and fellow journalist Jadi Nawfal are among members of the banned Committee for the Defence of Democratic Freedoms and Human […]

***Update to Action Alert dated 6 January 1995*** On 17 January 1995, B. J. Bresnihan, Secretary for Security at the Hong Kong Government Secretariat wrote to the WiPC headquarters in London, on behalf of Governor Christopher Patten to whom PEN had written about its concerns for over 30 Vietnamese writers and journalists who are in […]