PEN International

Thirty IFEX members protested the sentencing of bloggers, citizen journalists and rights activists, jailed for up to 13 years in the biggest ever trial of pro-democracy activists in Vietnam.

Saudi writer Turki Al-Hamad was arrested on 24 December after sending out a series of controversial tweets. He is at risk of being facing the death penalty.

A leading Uighur writer has spent most of the past eight years detained incommunicado in China without access to family visits, fostering speculation about his condition and possible death.

Enoh Meyomesse was convicted on charges of supposed complicity in the theft and illegal sale of gold. Since his arrest, there have been serious concerns about the charges against him, including reports that the prosecution fabricated evidence.

Pınar Selek is facing trial on charges she has already been acquitted of three times. She is accused of involvement in an explosion at the Istanbul Spice Bazaar in 1998. Commentators believe that Selek’s prosecution is linked to her work researching Kurdish issues and to contact with the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party.

While welcoming moves to implement measures that guarantee media independence, IFEX-TMG calls on the Tunisian government to fully respect free expression in the new Constitution and put an end to attacks on journalists and artists.

Chinese activist, novelist and poet Li Bifeng has been sentenced on fraud charges, although it is widely believed that the charges are without foundation and politically motivated.

Civil society delegates at a UN Inter-Agency meeting have agreed to support the implementation of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.