(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC of International PEN welcomes the release of Internet writer Mohamed Zaki, who was unconditionally released on 18 August 2005. However, PEN remains seriously concerned about the continued detention of fellow writer Ahmed Ibrahim Didi, who is serving a fifteen-year sentence for writing articles for “Sandhaanu”, an Internet publication critical of the […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC of International PEN welcomes the release of Internet writer Mohamed Zaki, who was unconditionally released on 18 August 2005. However, PEN remains seriously concerned about the continued detention of fellow writer Ahmed Ibrahim Didi, who is serving a fifteen-year sentence for writing articles for “Sandhaanu”, an Internet publication critical of the authorities. Didi and Zaki were detained in early 2002 with Ibrahim Moosa Luthfee, now in exile, and Fathimath Nisreen, who was amnestied on 9 May 2005. All were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for their involvement with “Sandhaanu”.
Didi was transferred from prison to house arrest in early 2004 because of a serious heart condition which cannot be effectively treated in the Maldives. International PEN is seriously concerned for his health, and is calling for his immediate and unconditional release on humanitarian grounds and in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
