Day of the Imprisoned Writer 2014: PEN International calls on governments to free unjustly imprisoned writers
On 15 November, PEN International, the worldwide association of writers, will mark the 33rd anniversary of the annual Day of the Imprisoned Writer, an international day that recognises writers who have suffered persecution as a result of exercising their right to freedom of expression.
Each year PEN Centres and members worldwide commemorate the Day of the Imprisoned Writer to raise awareness of the unjust imprisonment and other forms of attack against writers around the globe, to remember those who have been killed, and stand in solidarity with imprisoned and threatened colleagues.
‘November 15 is a day of action and acknowledgement,’ said Marian Botsford Fraser, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee. ‘It is PEN's way of saying to all of our 900 imprisoned, harassed, murdered and disappeared writers: you are not silenced. You are not forgotten. We stand with you and fight for you.’
In order to demonstrate how freedom of expression is being curtailed, each year PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee highlight five cases of writers currently in prison or being prosecuted from around the world that are emblematic of the type of threats and attacks faced by writers and journalists.
This year PEN is highlighting the cases of five writers from Cameroon, China, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, and Paraguay and calls for their immediate and unconditional release and for the charges against them to be dropped, along with all other writers similarly threatened. On 15 November, and the days surrounding, PEN Members will be sending appeal letters, raising publicity and staging events in support of their colleagues under attacks around the globe.
This year PEN International is advocating on behalf of the following writers:
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Poet, writer, historian, political activist and president of the National Association of Cameroonian Writers
Background
Cameroonian poet, Dieudonné Enoh Meyomesse, is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for alleged complicity in the theft and illegal sale of gold. It has now been 15 months since Meyomesse’s lawyers succeeded in having his case referred to a civil court for appeal. His appeal was expected to be heard on 20 June 2013 but the hearing was postponed. At least 11 further hearings have been postponed due to various legal technicalities. He is currently being held in the overcrowded Kondengui Central Prison in Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital, where conditions are extremely poor. Meyomesse suffers from several medical conditions brought on by his treatment in prison, including a debilitating eye condition and a gastrointestinal infection. PEN International believes that the charges against Meyomesse are politically motivated and that his imprisonment is linked to his writings critical of the government and his political activism and thus calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
Arrested on 22 November 2011 at Nsimalen International Airport in Yaoundé on the return leg of a trip to Singapore, Meyomesse was charged, alongside three other men, with 1) attempting to organise a coup 2) possessing a firearm 3) aggravated theft. The day after his arrest, Meyomesse was sent to a prison in Bertoua (Eastern Province), where he was held in solitary confinement - and complete darkness - for 30 days.
On 27 December 2012, having already spent 13 months in prison, Meyomesse was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and fined 200,000 CFA (approx. US$418) for supposed complicity in the theft and illegal sale of gold. His three co-defendants were reportedly sentenced to terms of between two and nine years in prison. No witnesses or evidence were presented during the trial, and he was not allowed to testify in his own defence. According to Meyomesse, he was sentenced “without any proof of wrong-doing on my part, without any witnesses, without any complainants, and more than that, after having been tortured during 30 days by an officer of the military.”
It has now been 15 months since Meyomesse’s lawyers succeeded in having his case referred to a civil court for appeal. His appeal was expected to be heard on 20 June 2013 but the hearing was postponed. At least 12 further hearings have been postponed due to various legal technicalities, most recently on 16 October. The latest date set for the hearing is 20 November 2014; however it remains to be seen whether it will actually take place.
Meyomesse is currently being held in the overcrowded Kondengui Central Prison in Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital, where conditions are extremely poor with inmates receiving only one meal a day. Click here to read about the conditions in Meyomesse’s own words.
Because of his time held in solitary confinement in total darkness in Bertoua police station in the first month of his confinement, Meyomesse is dealing with a debilitating eye condition that could leave him blind. In addition, he has been hospitalised on a number of occasions over the course of his imprisonment. In May 2014 Meyomesse was moved to the prison infirmary to be treated for malaria and the gastrointestinal infection amoebiasis. Most recently, he was admitted to a military hospital on 9 September, after falling unconscious in his cell for the third time in recent months. He was immediately returned to prison following treatment and his request for bail was denied by the court. Doctors advised that he be placed on a strict diet and should only drink mineral water, which is difficult for him to follow, given prison conditions in Cameroon. He continues to receive ad hoc treatment for amoebiasis.
Prior to his arrest, Meyomesse had published more than 15 books, including novels, essays and works on political and cultural themes. His first book was a collection of poems. In 2010, he published Le massacre de Messa en 1955 (The Massacre of Messa in 1955) and the tract Discours sur le tribalisme (A Discussion on Tribalism), in which he discusses the destructive effects of tribalism in Africa politics. Meyomesse attempted to run as a presidential candidate in the election on 9 October 2011, but was denied registration.
Despite all obstacles, Meyomesse continues to publish his works. In November 2012 Meyomesse self-published a powerful collection of poetry written whilst in detention, Poème carcéral: Poésie du pénitencier de Kondengui (Les Editions de Kamerun, November 2012). PEN Centres have been integral to the dissemination of his most recent works: in late 2013 English PEN published their crowd-sourced translation of Poème Carcéral, while Austrian PEN published a German translation of his poems. Keep up-to-date with Meyomesse’s writings and experiences by visiting his website: www.enohmeyomesse.net.
Enoh Meyomesse was the recipient of the 2012 Oxfam Novib/PEN Free Expression Award.
Please send appeals:
• Protesting the conviction of writer and activist Enoh Meyomesse on politically motivated charges and the seven-year prison sentence handed down to him on 27 December 2012;
• Expressing concern for reports of Enoh Meyomesse’s ill-health, urging the authorities to afford him all necessary medical care;
• Calling on the Cameroonian authorities to quash the conviction and to release Meyomesse immediately and unconditionally.
Appeals to:
President
President Paul Biya
Fax: +237 22 22 08 70
Email: cellcom@prc.cm or contact@presidenceducameroun.com
Twitter: @PR_Paul_Biya Minister of Justice
Hon. Minister of Justice Laurent Esso
Ministry of Justice
Yaoundé
Cameroon
Fax: +237 22 23 00 05 Prime Minister
Mr. Philemon Yang, Prime Minister
Fax: +237 22 23 57 35
Email: spm@spm.gov.cm
Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for Cameroon in your country if possible. Details of some Cameroonian embassies can be seen here: http://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-of/cameroon
Social Media: Please use the hashtag #FreeEnoh
SOLIDARITY
Send messages of solidarity to Enoh Meyomesse to the following address:
C/O Bergeline DOMOU (friend)
Boîte postale 15742
Yaoundé
Cameroon
PUBLICITY
PEN members are encouraged to:
• Publish articles and opinion pieces in your national or local press highlighting Enoh Meyomesse’s case;
• Organise public events, press conferences or demonstrations;
• Share information about Enoh Meyomesse and your campaigning for him via social media.
Please let us know about your activities and send us a report about them by 15 December 2014 so that we can share them with other centres.
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Beijing-based veteran journalist, Gao Yu, ‘disappeared’ on 23 April 2014 and was held incommunicado for two weeks before the authorities disclosed, in a televised ‘confession,’ that she was being held on suspicion of ‘leaking state secrets abroad’. She remains detained pending trial, and faces a lengthy prison sentence if convicted. She is currently being held in No. 1 Detention Center of Beijing City, and there are serious concerns for her well-being. PEN believes that Gao Yu is being persecuted for her legitimate professional activities, and is calling for her immediate and unconditional release.
Gao Yu, now aged 70, is former chief editor of Economics Weekly and contributor to the German newspaper Deutsche Welle. At the time of her disappearance she was writing a column titled “Party Nature vs. Human Nature”, which is said to focus on the new leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and its internal conflicts. The article was never submitted, and when she did not attend as scheduled a 26 April event in Beijing to commemorate the 4 June 1989 anti-government protests which were brutally suppressed, friends reported her disappearance. Gao Yu had also been due to travel to Hong Kong to speak at the annual awards ceremony of the Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC), of whom she is a member, on 3 May.
On 8 May 2014 Gao Yu appeared in a televised ‘confession’ shown on China’s national broadcaster CCTV in an early morning news programme. The report blurred out her face but showed her full name, ending speculation over her whereabouts. In the broadcast Gao Yu said ‘I admit that what I’ve done touched on legal issues and threatened national interests.’ She said she was ‘deeply remorseful’ of her actions and ‘willing to accept legal punishment’. The ‘confession’ is feared to have been extracted under duress, heightening concerns for her well-being and chance of a fair trial. The right to a fair trial, as enshrined in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights includes the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty and not to be compelled to testify against oneself or to confess guilt. As a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides for freedom of legitimate expression, the right not to be arbitrarily detained and the right to a fair trial, China is obliged to “refrain from acts that would defeat or undermine the treaty’s objective and purpose”.
According to Gao’s lawyer, the charges against her are believed to be based on a document known as “Document Number 9″, which Ms Gao had written about last year. The document is said to detail the government’s vision of pushing economic reforms while maintaining ideological controls concerning issues such as democracy, civil society and freedom of press.
Gao Yu’s arrest came in the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the military crackdown on the 4th June 1989 democracy movement, and a renewed crackdown on dissent.
Background
Gao Yu has been a PEN main case since 1989, when she was one of the first people to be detained in the crackdown on the pro-democracy protests. She was first arrested on 3 June 1989 for an article she wrote for a Hong Kong newspaper supporting student protesters in Tiananmen Square, and was imprisoned for over a year. She spent a further five and a half years in prison from 1993-99 for ‘providing state secrets to parties outside [China’s] borders’ in a series of political and economic articles in Hong Kong-based publications. Gao Yu is known for her fiercely critical political analysis and knowledge of the inner circles of the Chinese Communist Party.
Gao Yu has continued to work in China as a freelance journalist in spite of considerable restriction and pressure. She contributed an essay to PEN’s 2013 report “Creativity and Constraint in Today’s China.” She is an honorary director of ICPC and an honorary member of Czech PEN and Swedish PEN.
Please send appeals:
Expressing serious concern for the arrest and well-being of veteran journalist Gao Yu, and urging that she is protected from ill-treatment and granted access to family and a lawyer of her choice;
Calling for her immediate and unconditional release if, as feared, she is being persecuted for her legitimate professional activities;
Reminding the Chinese authorities that Article 35 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China provides for freedom of speech and that as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides for freedom of legitimate expression, the right not to be arbitrarily detained and the right to a fair trial, they are obliged to “refrain from acts that would defeat or undermine the treaty’s objective and purpose”.
Send appeals to:
His Excellency Xi Jinping President of the People’s Republic of ChinaState CouncilBeijing 100032P.R. ChinaFax: +86 10 6238 1025Salutation: Your Excellency Fu Zhenghua
Director, Beijing Public Security Bureau
Beijingshi Gong’anju
9 Dongdajie, Qianmen, Dongchengqu,
Beijing 100740, P.R. China
Fax: +86 10 65242927Telephone: +86 10 8522 5050 (Chinese only)
Salutation: Dear Director
It is recommended that you send a copy of your appeals via the diplomatic representative for China in your country.
PUBLICITY
PEN members are encouraged to:
Publish articles and opinion pieces in your national or local press highlighting the situation in China.
Organise public events, stage readings, press conferences or demonstrations.
Share information about China and your campaigning activities for Gao Yu via social media
SOLIDARITY
Elect Gao Yu as an Honorary Member of your Centre and by doing so provide long term support and advocacy for her and her family. For details of the PEN International Honorary Membership scheme, read the PEN WiPC Guide to Defending Writers Under Attack (Part V, pgs 15-20). Please let us know if you do so and we will ensure that your Centre is put in contact with others working on the case.
Please let us know about your activities and to send us a report about them by 15 December 2014 so that we can share them with other centres.
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Background
Azimjon Askarov is a journalist and member of Kyrgyzstan’s Uzbek minority who has spent his career exposing corruption. He was arrested during the inter-ethnic conflict that swept Osh and Jalal-Abad in June 2010 and convicted, on 15 September 2010, of organising mass disorder and complicity in the murder of a police officer; he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and other independent observers have declared that Askarov did not receive a fair trial. An official investigation commissioned by the government’s own human rights ombudsman concluded that Askarov was not even at the scene prior to the police officer’s murder and, therefore, that he had played no role in the killing. PEN believes that Askarov was targeted solely for his critical reporting of police corruption and that he should be released immediately and unconditionally.
Askarov, 61, has not always been a journalist. A practical, creative man, he studied art at university and, for the first 15 years of his adult life, worked as a house painter and decorator. He only turned to journalism in the mid-90s, contributing to the regional news websites Golos Svobody (Voice of Freedom) and the Ferghana News Agency. He quickly made himself unpopular with the authorities by exposing local corruption; his investigations into police involvement in criminal activity reportedly led to ten police officers losing their jobs.
Askarov maintains that he took no part in the clashes of 2010, and that he spent most of his time documenting it; he took photographs of victims (both Kyrgyz and Uzbek), made extensive notes and went to the local morgue to identify bodies. He also wrote that he witnessed Kyrgyz police officers shooting ethnic Uzbeks.
The evidence against Askarov is widely considered by human rights NGOs to be fabricated. Since his arrest, Askarov has repeatedly complained of being beaten and threatened, including during his trial; these claims are supported by independent witnesses. An examination carried out in January 2012 by the international NGO Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) concluded not only that Askarov’s health had deteriorated, but that he showed clinical evidence of traumatic brain injury consistent with his claims of being tortured. In November 2012, the journalist’s lawyer submitted a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee.
Based on credible evidence that Askarov was tortured and that he received an unfair trial, his supporters have made many attempts to re-open the investigation into his case. On 30 April 2014, Askarov’s lawyer convinced the Oktyabrsky District Court in Bishkek to re-open the investigation. However, this decision was overturned on 12 June 2014 when the Bishkek City Court rejected the lower court’s ruling. His lawyer then appealed to the Supreme Court, which, on 3 September 2014, rejected the journalist’s appeal for a review of his case.
Some journalists and human rights defenders believe that the authorities are reluctant to re-open Askarov’s case simply because he has too much information implicating police officers and politicians in the violence of 2010; others suggest that President Atambayev fears that releasing the Uzbek journalist might spark Kyrygz violence in the south of the country. Both international and domestic NGOs risk harassment if they campaign on Askarov’s behalf.
Askarov was an honorary ‘Empty Chair’ at PEN’s 2014 international congress in Bishkek, where his wife, Hadicha Askarova, made a moving personal appeal to PEN delegates. During the congress, PEN delegations raised Askarov’s case directly in private meetings with both President Atambayev and the General Prosecutor, Aida Salyanova.
In 2011, Askarov won People In Need’s Homo Homini Award, “in recognition of a dedication to the promotion of human rights, democracy and non-violent solutions to political conflicts.” In 2012, he was the recipient of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom Award.
Please send appeals:
Calling for the immediate release of journalist and human rights defender Azimjon Askarov, for his conviction to be overturned, and for his allegations of torture to be thoroughly and impartially investigated;
Calling for anyone found responsible for violating Askarov’s rights to be brought to justice and for Askarov to be provided with adequate redress for any such violations, including an enforceable right to compensation for any torture he is found to have been subjected to.
Please send appeals:
• Calling for the immediate release of journalist and human rights defender Azimjon Askarov, for his conviction to be overturned, and for his allegations of torture to be thoroughly and impartially investigated;
• Calling for anyone found responsible for violating Askarov’s rights to be brought to justice and for Askarov to be provided with adequate redress for any such violations, including an enforceable right to compensation for any torture he is found to have been subjected to.
Appeals to:
President of Kyrgyzstan
His Excellency Almazbek Atambayev
Office of the President
Chuy Avenue 205
72003 Bishkek
Republic of Kyrgyzstan
psp@adm.gov.kg, oip@adm.gov.kg
Prosecutor General
Aida Salyanova
Prosecutor General of Kyrgyzstan
139 Toktonalieva Street
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
statement@prokuror.kg
IN SOLIDARITY
Write to Azimjon Askarov in prison. His friends and family say that messages of support provide great comfort and inspiration:
Prison Address:
(English)
Azimjon Askarov
720755, Kyrgyz Republic, Bishkek city,
91 Malikova Street,
Penal colony #47
(Russian)
Азимжану Аскарову
720755, Кыргызская Республика, г. Бишкек,
ул. Маликова 91,
Исправительная колония № 47
PUBLICITY
PEN members are encouraged to:
• Publish articles and opinion pieces in your national or local press highlighting Azimjon Askarov’s case;
• Organise public events, stage readings, press conferences or demonstrations;
• Share information about Askarov and your campaigning activities for him via social media.
Social Media: Please use the hashtag #ImprisonedWriter
Suggested tweets:
• #Kyrgyzstan Release journalist Azimjon Askarov, imprisoned for life after unfair trial #ImprisonedWriter @pen_int
• On Day of the #ImprisonedWriter take action for writers resisting repression of their basic human right to #FOE
Please let us know about your activities and to send us a report about them by 15 December 2014 so that we can share them with other Centres.
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Background
Writer, teacher and member of PEN Paraguay, Nelson Aguilera was sentenced to 30 months in prison for alleged plagiarism on 4 November 2013. His conviction is currently the subject of an appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice. Aguilera is alleged to have plagiarised Maria Eugenia Garay’s 2005 novel El túnel del tiempo (The Tunnel of Time) in his 2010 novel for children Karumbita: La patriota (Karumbita: The Patriot). Independent experts and writers have found that the similarities in the two works cannot be described as plagiarism. PEN believes Aguilera’s sentence to be unjust and calls on the Paraguayan authorities to quash his conviction without further delay.
On 1 July 2010, writer Maria Eugenia Garay Zucolillo filed a lawsuit against Nelson Aguilera alleging that he had plagiarised her adult novel El túnel del tiempo (Criterio Ediciones, 2005) in the second in his series of children’s novels Karumbita: La patriota (Alfaguara Infantil, 2010).
Karumbita: La patriota tells the story of Paraguayan independence through the time-travelling adventures of two children, Anahí and Manuel, and a magical turtle, Karumbita. In the story, Karumbita dreams that she builds a time machine with the children allowing them to participate in Paraguay’s struggle for independence in May 1811. In the dream the characters meet several figures of historical significance. Garay’s novel El túnel del tiempo tells the story of two children, Jerónimo and Rodrigo, who – along with their grandfather, the wizard Paracelsus and Albert Einstein, among others – journey through time, witnessing the various key points in the life of man, meeting various mythological and historical characters along the way. One of their stops is the Paraguayan declaration of independence.
At least six independent experts and writers have provided separate detailed written analyses of both Aguilera and Garay’s works and found that the similarities in them cannot be described as plagiarism. They argue that while both texts feature similar thematic elements, such as time travel, and significant dates in Paraguayan history, the manner in which they are used is significantly different. The analyses show that the literary styles, structure and argument of the works differ significantly and that Aguilera has not lifted any sentences or paragraphs from Garay’s work.
Experts also highlighted that where similarities were found these were owing to both authors referencing known historical facts and events. Such facts belong to neither one of the authors. The experts add that time travel has been used as a theme throughout literature and as such its use alone cannot constitute plagiarism.
According to Aguilera, 40 witnesses were prevented from testifying in his defence during the trial as the judge ruled that they had been presented too late. These included a recognised legal expert in plagiarism employed by the court to investigate the case against Aguilera who had concluded that Aguilera did not have a case to answer.
Aguilera was nonetheless convicted of plagiarism on 4 November 2013 and sentenced to 30 months in prison. His conviction and sentence were upheld by the Chamber of Appeal in Asunción in June 2014. Aguilera has filed an appeal with the the Supreme Court of Justice, which is now under review by three ministers in the Constitutional Court. He awaits their verdict.
Aguilera has suggested that his conviction may have been influenced by the fact that Garay’s brother, César Garay Zucolillo, is minister of the Supreme Court of Justice.
On 9 July 2014, Aguilera took the opportunity to present his case before Parlasur, the parliament of Mercosur, a sub-regional bloc of countries comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. Aguilera was accompanied by the writer Lino Trinidad, who acted as an expert witness at the court’s request, and represented the Paraguayan Writers Society.
Aguilera is a prolific author who has published some 40 books including works of children’s fiction – such as his Karumbita series – adult fiction – including Flores en llamas (2013) – poetry, and educational textbooks. Over the course of the trial he has continued to write and recently launched his latest title in the ‘Karumbita’ series, Karumbita va al Munidal.
Please send appeals:
Condemning the conviction and 30-month prison sentence of Paraguayan writer Nelson Aguilera for alleged plagiarism in his children’s novel Karumbita: La patriota;
Calling for Aguilera’s conviction to be quashed and for him not to be imprisoned.
Appeals to:
President of Paraguay
Sr. Horacio Manuel Cartes
Presidente de la República del Paraguay
Palacio de Gobierno,
El Paraguayo Independiente entre O’Leary y Ayolas
Asunción, Paraguay
Fax: +595 21 414 02 01
E-mail: secretariaprivada@presidencia.gov.py
Salutation: Dear President/Estimado PresidenteEdgar Manuel Escobar Rodas
Supreme Court of Justice coordinator
Palacio de Justicia
Alonso y Testanova
Planta Baja
Email: ed_escobar@pj.gov.py
Please also send copies of your appeals to the Paraguayan Embassy in your country.
See http://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-of/paraguay
PUBLICITY
PEN members are encouraged to:
Publish articles and opinion pieces in your national or local press highlighting Nelson Aguilera’s case.
Organise public events, stage readings, press conferences or demonstrations.
Share information about Nelson Aguilera and your campaigning activities for him via social media
Social Media: Please use the hashtag #ImprisonedWriter
Suggested tweets:
#Paraguay Drop unfounded 'plagiarism' charges against writer & teacher Nelson Aguilera, sentenced to 30 months in prison #ImprisonedWriter @pen_int
On Day of the #ImprisonedWriter take action for writers resisting repression of their right to #FOE
SOLIDARITY
Write to Nelson Aguilera expressing your support. For contact details, please contact Tamsin Mitchell. For correspondence guidance, read the PEN WiPC Guide to Defending Writers Under Attack (Part V, pgs 15-20).
Please let us know about your activities and to send us a report about them by 15 December 2014 so that we can share them with other Centres.
In the lead up to the Day of the Imprisoned Writer, renowned writers Alain Mabanckou, Alberto Manguel, Yann Martell, Elif Shafak and Luisa Valenzuela have all sent messages of solidarity to these five writers.
‘I can’t offer you anything in your cell except my devotion as your reader, my trust in better times, and my distant but sincere friendship. I hope that in the very near future we will meet in person, not only on the page’
Extract from a letter to Mahvash Sabet, from Alberto Manguel for the Day of the Imprisoned Writer.
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My dear Dieudonné Enoh Meyomesse,
The world would be a perfect place if freedom of expression wasn’t suffering, day after day, from the blindness of our governments who have always perceived African writers as their “natural opponents”, because we refuse to endorse any regime and because our independence is not for sale…
Those political leaders deem our writing to be harmful, incompatible with the arbitrary practices they implemented, which have been a burden on some peoples for many decades, as we see it in your country, Cameroon. Well, you are not alone in this captivity, because when writers are thrown in prison, they are followed in their cells by an army of readers and the loud footsteps of their outraged colleagues. It is with this optimism in mind that I am writing this letter to you, to remind you that we will never cease to speak your name and to denounce, from every rooftop of the world, the injustice that befell you and the contempt shown by the justice system towards you.
By imprisoning a writer, they are playing with fire: how could they build walls around our imagination, when they know it has a pair of giant wings and that it sings, in every season, its hymn to freedom?
At a time when the world is opening up, your country remains on the sidelines because of its backward practices. Your appeals in court are postponed, as if your words, once delivered to the public, would undermine the foundations of your country’s regime. I believe it to be true, and those words are now in all of us. We are spreading your words to the four corners of the earth, to remind the enemies of free speech that an invisible and invincible army is on its way, using words to tear down every one of the barriers keeping mankind from progress.
No, my dear Dieudonné, you are not alone. We are standing with you; we are one; and we will be, more than ever, the bearers of your voice, until you are freed and able to pick up your pen, enchant your readers once again, and make them dream and take part in the building of a new Cameroon - and beyond, of a new Africa, free and democratic. You are our martyr, and we will remind each other every time that we meet as colleagues. Open your ears, and you will hear our voice and unshakable anger already on the doorstep of your cell.
Stay brave, brother, we’re here for you!
Alain Mabanckou
(Translated by Julien Faille-Lefrançois)
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It’s almost an impertinence, I feel, to write to a poet who is being kept behind bars for her words and beliefs. King Lear, imprisoned at the end of the play with his daughter Cordelia, tells her that they will become “God’s spies.” That is what you as well have become, bearing witness to society’s injustices, prejudices and inability to understand that no matter what society might do to a poet, the poet’s words will still be free in the minds of the readers, and continue to conjure up ideas, engage the mind in conversation. Perhaps there’s consolation in this.
You end one of your poems saying that “You can’t see the sorrow after lights out,” and that you therefore “long for the dark, total black-out.” I hope, for your dear sake, that the end of your sorrow is near but not as that “total black-out” you speak of: instead, as a resolution of freedom, as the free sunlight that is every person’s natural right, a right no one is entitled to take away.
I don’t know if you can find comfort in realizing that you have now been welcomed into a vast and honoured company of imprisoned writers, from all centuries and all tongues, from Boethius to Abu Nuwas, Cervantes, Yevgenia Ginzburg, Nazim Hikmet and hundreds of others, and that generations of readers to come will remember your name as they remember theirs, long after the names of your jailers have been swept off the memory of the earth.
I can’t offer you anything in your cell except my devotion as your reader, my trust in better times, and my distant but sincere friendship. I hope that in the very near future we will meet in person, not only on the page.
With very best wishes of hope and courage,
Alberto Manguel
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Dear Azimjon,
You’re in jail; I am not. That fact remains, and it rankles. The question as to why has a simple answer: I am lucky, and you are brave. My luck is that I live in a country that, broadly speaking, respects the rights of its citizens. How you got to be so brave escapes me. Would I so unflinchingly report on police corruption, as you did? I would like to believe that I would, and that others would stand in solidarity with me should I get into trouble.
That is what I am doing now, expressing my solidarity with you. You are not alone. Not only am I raising my voice on your behalf, calling for your unconditional release, but so is PEN International and its many national affiliates, that is to say, so are thousands of other writers from all around the world.
On a practical level, I should tell you about the meeting that took place in Bishkek, the capital of your country, between President Atambayev and senior members of PEN International. I had the good fortune of being invited to this meeting. We feared that it might be taken merely as a courtesy call by President Atambayev and that within fifteen minutes we would be shown the door. That is not what happened. The meeting went on for over an hour—and most of it was spent talking about you.
To my surprise, it was President Atambayev who raised your case, not us. He brought it up and wouldn’t let it go. Clearly, it annoys him that when he goes abroad, your name and your situation is brought up. That’s exactly what he said. He asserted that your trial had been fair and that you are a criminal, but I didn’t find him very convincing, and I wonder if he really believed what he was saying. And at the end of the meeting he proposed that representatives of PEN International should meet with the public prosecutor. If he thought your conviction was just, why would he allow such a meeting?
I have faith that you will eventually see your conviction overturned and be released unconditionally. I only hope that this comes sooner than later.
In the meantime, please do not lose hope, do not give up. We—a great many we—care and think about you. May we one day meet in person over a cup of coffee, enjoying a leisurely moment of freedom. I will remind you of how brave you are, you will remind me of how lucky I am. We will laugh. I look forward to that day.
Yours truly, in solidarity,
Yann Martel
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Dear Gao Yu,
We have never met in person. Yet the honesty, integrity and power of your words and your exceptional courage have travelled beyond the borders of China and reached my heart, the way they have reached the hearts of countless others, East and West. I would like you to know that there are many people across the globe who are aware of the unfair treatments and hardships you are going through. People that care about what is happening to you. People who stand in solidarity with you.
China is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This entails protecting basic universal human rights, including the freedom of expression, the right not to be arbitrarily detained and the right to a fair trial. The Chinese government needs to remember that.
As history has shown us, democracy is nothing but a lame word if there is no space in it for criticism, creativity and dissent. Societies move forward not through sameness and repetition, but thanks to differences of opinion and intellectual diversity. Raising important questions, something you have done so bravely and so honestly, is an integral part of this process. There are things that are sacred for all human beings everywhere around the world like water and bread. Words, too, are sacred. They are delicate and strong, intricate and simple, like the ancient art of silk-weaving. The great Chinese culture has given birth to many important philosophers, writers and poets who recognised the value of words and our need to set them free.
We urge the Chinese government to protect you from ill-treatment and to grant you access to your family and a lawyer of your own choice. We are greatly concerned about your well-being; we will be following your case closely and we will stand up for you.
Trusting that better days will come and yes they will, I am sending you my deep respect and sisterhood … I hope that you find comfort in the fact that your words echo far and wide, reaching hearts and minds beyond the bars of your cell, beyond the walls of your prison, reminding us that the freedom of speech is worth fighting for.
With continued wishes of hope,
Elif Shafak
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Dear Nelson Aguilera,
I want to extend to you my complete support as well as that of many of my colleagues. Your trial is reminiscent of a witch hunt, far removed from all literary debate. Along with the experts, I believe that there has been absolutely no plagiarism, but rather a similar approach to topics that are in the public domain. And since we’re on the topic of time, let us imagine H.G. Wells – former president of PEN International – passing judgment on Mrs. María Eugenia Garay [author of El tunel del tiempo/The Time Tunnel, brought the case of plagiarism against Mr Aguilera] ; as if intertextuality weren’t often part of literary creation.
Not only that: assuming that the judges were already decided on the matter, the proposed punishment is alarmingly disproportionate to the alleged “crime,” both in duration and location, as we are not unaware of Tacumbú prison’s infamy. I fear that such a sentence would be perceived as a political manoeuvre threatening the most basic human rights.
But I am extremely hopeful that everything will come out for the best, and justly. I cannot believe that an injustice of this calibre is taking place in the country where the Operation Condor archives were brought to light. How pathetic such jurisprudence seems: great writers who have been found to be plagiarists, with entire paragraphs reproduced verbatim—despite their blaming their respective secretaries -- should spend years in the shadows rather than walking free, their only punishment being their tarnished reputations.
Nelson, I understand that a writer with your trajectory must put himself on the line for his beliefs (we have already seen this in your brief novel, which even in its title is eloquent, En el nombre de los niños...de la calle/In the Name of the Children…on the Street). But this is not the case. You are not being tried for the content of your children’s book Karumbita la patriota, which would be inadmissible in your democratic country. You are not being accused for your ideas but for an interpretation of them, an interpretation with such weak evidence that it could be considered a disguised form of censorship. It is because of this that I wish to join the international voices demanding justice.
We hope to see you not only acquitted but also exonerated, free from all stigma.
To read this in Spanish click here.