PEN International

Nasrin Sotoudeh’s sentence includes one year for “propaganda against the regime” and 10 years for “acting against national security” and “violating the Islamic dress code in a filmed speech”.

IFEX-TMG is deeply alarmed by a series of violations in the past week of the right to access information, free expression and movement, as well as a blatant assault on a journalist.

Vladimir Neklyaev was kidnapped from the hospital where he was taken after being beaten by security agents during post-election protests; his whereabouts are unknown.

Nasrin Sotoudeh is imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression.

The IFEX-TMG is deeply concerned that five years after hosting the World Summit on the Information Society, Tunisia remains one of the most repressive countries for independent journalists, bloggers and human rights defenders.

Edezin Mohamed, editor of “Al-Quds” newspaper, was released after serving one year in prison, while his son Akram Ezedin has just been arrested.

“The WiPC has played a leading role in documenting human rights abuses experienced by writers across the globe for half a century,” says committee chair Marian Botsford Fraser.

The public is invited to join IFEX members in signing a petition to Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong regarding the case of British writer and journalist Alan Shadrake who is at risk of being sent to prison in Singapore for his book, “Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock” about the death penalty.