Sydney PEN joins the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International in welcoming the release of French-Vietnamese university teacher and Internet writer Pham Minh Hoang on 13 January 2012. PEN International continues to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all other writers and journalists currently detained in Vietnam in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Vietnam is a signatory.
Pham Minh Hoang (pen name Phan Kien Quoc), was arrested in August 2010 and was convicted a year later for his critical online writings. He was found guilty of “activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s government” and was sentenced to three years in prison and three years of probationary detention. On 29 November 2011, Pham’s imprisonment sentence was reduced on appeal to seventeen months.
In his blog, Pham Minh Hoang has written about a variety of social topics, including freedom of expression, education, the environment and workers rights. He is said to be a member of the banned party Viet Tan.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
PEN International: “VIETNAM: Internet blogger Pham Minh Hoang’s sentence reduced”, 5 Dec 2011
PEN International: “French-Vietnamese teacher and writer Pham Minh Hoang sentenced to three years in prison”, 7 Aug 2011
PLEASE SEND APPEALS:
- Welcoming the release of university teacher and Internet writer Pham Minh Hoang;
- Demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all those currently detained in Vietnam in violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, protecting the right to freedom of expression.
SEND APPEALS TO:
Mr Truong Tan Sang
President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Mr Pham Binh Minh
Minister of Foreign Affairs
1 Ton That Dam Street
Ba Dinh district, Ha Noi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Fax: + 844 3823 1872
E-mail: bc.mfa “at” mofa.gov.vn
His Excellency Mr Vinh Thanh HOANG
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
6 Timbarra Crescent
O'Malley ACT 2606
Please send appeals immediately. Check with PEN International if sending appeals after 28 February 2012.
For further information please contact Cathy McCann at International PEN Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: cathy.mccann@pen-international.org
The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International welcomes the release of leading musician Win Maw and prominent blogger Nay Phone Latt , who are among 651 prisoners to be freed as part of a presidential amnesty announced on 13 January 2012. News is still emerging, and full details of all those included in the amnesty have yet to be confirmed. PEN hopes that all those who remain detained in Burma in violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, protecting the right to freedom of expression, will soon be freed.
Background
According to PEN’s information, popular Burmese musician Win Maw was arrested on 27 November 2007 and sentenced to seven years in prison. He was arrested under article 5 (j) of the penal code with threatening national security for his song writing and reporting on the crackdown in Burma, which began in early September 2007 following demonstrations led by monks and pro-democracy activists. Win Maw was beaten and tortured during the early years of his detention. In 2009 he was sentenced to a further ten years in prison. Win Maw is lead guitarist in the music group Shwe Thansin, which was one of the top bands in Burma in the 1990s. He was previously imprisoned from 1997-2003 for writing songs in support of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).
Prominet blogger and poet Nay Phone Latt was arrested on 29 January 2008 and sentenced to twenty years and six months in prison, reduced on appeal to twelve years, for critical writings published in his blog. He has continued to write poems in prison, and is an honorary member of American PEN.
PEN’s WiPC thanks all those who have supported Win Maw and Nay Phone Latt during their imprisonment and maintained international pressure on their case, which undoubtedly contributed to their release.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Mizzima (Burmese news website):
“Most prominent political prisoners freed”, 13 Dec 2012
For more information and writings by Win Maw, including three new songs smuggled out of prison in February 2011, see Freemuse.
PEN America has published more information and writings by Nay Phone Latt.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS:
- Welcoming the release of leading musician Win Maw and blogger Nay Phone Latt, and urging that all restrictions against them are lifted;
- Demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all those currently detained in Myanmar in violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, protecting the right to freedom of expression.
SEND APPEALS TO:
Senior General Than Shwe
Chairman, State Peace and Development Council
c/o Ministry of Defence, Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Salutation: Dear General
Appeals to Burma Embassies
WiPC strongly recommends that you copy your appeal to the Burmese embassy in your country asking them to forward it to the Burmese authorities and welcoming any comments.
His Excellency Mr Paw Lwin SEIN
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
22 Arkana Street
Yarralumla
ACT 2600
For further information please contact Cathy McCann at International PEN Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: cathy.mccann “at” pen-internationalpen.org
Sydney PEN joins the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International in condemning the imprisonment of the writer Chen Wei. An honorary member of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre and winner of the Liu Xiaobo Courage to Write award, Chen Wei was sentenced on 23 December 2011 to nine years in prison for ‘subversive writing.’ The conviction is based on articles published on Chinese websites overseas. The WiPC calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Chen Wei.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
The Guardian, "China jails veteran activist Chen Wei as crackdown continues", 23 Dec 2011
BBC, "Chen Wei jailed in China for 'subversive' writing", 23 Dec 2011
PLEASE SEND APPEALS:
- Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Chen Wei, imprisoned by the P.R.China for the peaceful exercise of his right to free expression;
- Expressing alarm at the crackdown on dissent in which writers, journalists and human rights defenders are amongst those to have been targeted;
- Reminding the Chinese authorities of their obligations under Article 35 of the Chinese constitution and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which it is a state party.
SEND APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Hu Jintao
President of the People’s Republic of China
State Council
Beijing 100032
P.R. China
Director of the Beijing Public Security Bureau
MA Zhenchuan Juzhang
Beijingshi Gong'anju
9 Dongdajie, Qianmen
Dongchengqu
Beijingshi 100740
People’s Republic of China
Fax: +86 1065242927
Minister of Justice
WU Aiying Buzhang
Sifabu
10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie
Chaoyangqu
Beijingshi 100020
People’s Republic of China
Minister of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China
MENG Jianzhu
Gong'anbu
14 Dongchang'anjie
Dongchengqu
Beijingshi 100741
People’s Republic of China
You can also copy this appeal to the Chinese embassy in Australia, asking them to forward it and welcoming any comments:
His Excellency Mr CHEN YUMING
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
15 Coronation Drive
Yarralumla ACT 2600
Please contact the PEN WiPC office in London if sending appeals after 22 February 2012
For further information please contact Cathy McCann at International PEN Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: cathy.mccann@pen-internationalpen.org
The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International condemns the draconian punishment handed down to Swedish journalists Johann Persson and Martin Schibbye by an Ethiopian judge on 26 December 2011. The two journalists, were found guilty of entering the country illegally and ‘supporting terrorism,’ were each sentenced to 11 years in prison. The WiPC calls for their immediate release.
The reporters were arrested on 1 July 2011 in Ethiopia’s Ogaden region, following a battle between Ethiopian forces and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). The ONLF is regarded by Ethiopia as a terrorist organization and Persson and Schibbye were charged under anti-terrorism legislation. The journalists had entered the country illegally on an assignment and were investigating allegations of human rights violations linked to the activities of the Swedish oil company Lundin Oil. Both denied any involvement in terrorism.
There are serious concerns about the fairness of the trial, which saw both political interference by the Prime Minister, and the use of fabricated evidence in court.
For a full account of the case, please see:
PEN International: “ETHIOPIA: Two Swedish Journalists Found Guilty of ‘Supporting Terrorism’”, 21 Dec 2011
PLEASE SEND APPEALS:
- Calling on for the immediate and unconditional release of the journalists Martin Schibbye and Johann Persson;
- Expressing concern that the journalists have been arrested purely in relation to their journalistic activity, in violation of the right to freedom of expression protected under international human rights treaties to which Ethiopia is a party, including the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights; and
- Protesting the unfair trial in which political interference and fabricated evidence were prominent.
SEND APPEALS TO:
Minister of Justice Berhanu Hailu
Ministry of Justice
P.O. Box 1370
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Fax: +251 11 551 7775/ 7755
Email: justice “at” telecom.net.et, ministry-justice “at” telecom.net.et
Salutation: Dear Minister
Please send appeals immediately. Check with International PEN if sending appeals after 15 February 2012
For further details please contact Cathal Sheerin at the Writers in Prison Committee London Office: PEN International, Brownlow House, 50-51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER Tel: +44 (0) 207 405 0338 Fax +44 (0) 207 405 0339 email: cathal.sheerin@pen-international.org
Sydney PEN joins PEN International and others around the world in mourning the death of playwright and politcian Václav Havel. Published below is PEN International’s statement on Havel’s life and work.
__________________________________________________________
Václav Havel, dissident playwright and poet, honorary president of Czech PEN and statesman, who died on 18 December 2011 aged 75, will be remembered by all at PEN for his remarkable contribution to literature and his outstanding commitment to freedom of expression.
“Václav Havel was the most courageous fighter for the freedom of speech. He trusted and believed in the ‘power of the powerless’ in the most democratic sense. So many spiritual seeds were planted by him all over the world. He changed the paradigm of global society with his fight for democracy and freedom of speech.”
– International Secretary of PEN International, Hori Takeaki
In 1994, Václav Havel, then President of the Czech Republic, addressed the Prague World Congress of PEN International, saying:
“Let us admit that most of us writers feel an essential aversion to politics. By taking such a position, however, we accept the perverted principle of specialization, according to which some are paid to write about the horrors of the world and human responsibility and others to deal with those horrors and bear the human responsibility for them.”
Marian Botsford Fraser, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee, was at the Congress in Prague and recalls an extraordinary meeting attended by writers such as Arthur Miller, Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, Günter Grass and Havel himself. She remembers his call to PEN members to do “something less conspicuous…create…if I may use the word, a somewhat conspiratorial mafia whose aim is not just to write marvellous books or occasional manifestos, but to have an impact on politics and its human perceptions in a spirit of solidarity…to help open its eyes.”
Havel’s spirit of solidarity remained constant. One bitterly cold day in the first week of January, 2010, Václav Havel, and two of his fellow dissidents walked down a snow-edged street in Prague to deliver a letter to the Chinese Ambassador. Surrounded by a crowd of journalists and photographers, they rang the bell several times. No one came to the door, so they left their letter in the letterbox.
The letter from Havel and his friends, co-signatories of Charter 77, requested a fair and open trial for the Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo, sentenced on December 25, 2009 to 11 years for being the co-author of Charter 08. It said, “… we are convinced that this trial and harsh sentence meted out to a… prominent citizen of your country merely for thinking and speaking critically about various political and social issues was chiefly meant as a stern warning to others not to follow his path.”
Vaclav Havel himself chose, despite threats and imprisonment, to speak out, to take a path of conscience and commitment to freedom of speech. He was an inspirational and remarkable man; his legacy – and spirit of solidarity – is a gift to us all.
Our thoughts are with his wife Dagmar, all his friends and family and with our colleagues in Czech PEN at this time.
The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International is alarmed at the killing of prominent journalist and newspaper founder Khadzhimurad Kamalov on 15 December 2011 in Dagestan. Kamalov, who had previously been subject to numerous threats, was gunned down as he was leaving the offices of his newspaper by a masked assailant. PEN calls on the Russian authorities to ensure that a full and impartial investigation in conducted to ensure that those responsible for the assassination are brought to justice.
Journalist Khadzhimurad Kamalov
Khadzhimurad Kamalov, the founder of the independent weekly Chernovik, was reportedly shot up to fourteen times by a masked assailant outside the paper’s offices in the Dagestan capital, Makhachkala, as he left work shortly before midnight on 15 December 2011. The gunman reportedly fled the scene by car.
There has been a long history of harassment towards the staff of Chernovik, with five of its journalists being arrested on trumped-up charges of “extremism” between 2008 and 2011. The newspaper has frequently addressed highly sensitive topics in the southern republic of Dagestan, in particular reports of police abuses in neighbouring Chechnya. The Centre to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also states that, in a recent television interview, Kamalov had made critical comments about alleged regional government corruption.
Kamalov had reportedly received numerous threats since founding the paper in 2003. Writing in the British Guardian newspaper, the journalist’s former colleague Nadira Isayeva said she was not surprised that Kamalov had been murdered, claiming that “Throughout my seven-year association with Khadzhimurad Kamalov I have been waiting for this day. The day they killed him”.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
The Guardian – “Khadzhimurad Kamalov: a death foreseen” by Nadira Isayeva, 16 Dec 2011
Committee to Protect Journalists – “Russia must act after murder of Dagestani paper founder”, 16 Dec 2011
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Please write to the Russian authorities:
- Condemning the assassination of journalist and newspaper founder Khadzhimurad Kamalov.
- Calling for a full and impartial investigation into the murder, in particular examining whether the killing was the result of Kamalov’s journalistic activity
- Calling on the Russian authorities to live up to their commitments to protect freedom of expression under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to ensure that threats against journalists are fully investigated as a matter of priority.
SEND APPEALS TO:
Mr Dmitry Medvedev
President of the Russian Federation
Kremlin
Moscow
Russia
Fax: 7 095 206 5173 / 230 2408
Email: president “at” gov.ru
Mr Chaika Yuri Yakovlevich
Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation
Ishaya Dmitrovka 1 a GSP e
Moscow 12599 3
Russia
Fax 7 095 292 88 48
In Australia, write to:
His Excellency Mr Vladimir MOROZOV
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Embassy of the Russian Federation
78 Canberra Avenue
Griffith ACT 2603
Please contact PEN International if sending appeals after 31 January 2012
PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee protests the detention of blogger and activist Zainab Al-Khawaja, who was arrested on 15 December 2011 for her particpation in a peaceful protest. She is feared to be at risk of ill-treatment in detention. Zainab is the daughter of human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who is serving a life sentence for his peaceful opposition activities (see Internationall PEN, "PEN observer reports on Bahrain trial", 29 Sept 2011).
PEN International calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all those currently detained in Bahrain for the peaceful exercise of their opinions, including Zainab Al-Khawaja, and seeks immediate guarantees of her safety. It reminds the Bahraini authorities of their obligations to protect the right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bahrain is a signatory.
Al-Jazeera gives the following information:
Police in Bahrain have arrested human rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja, as security forces clashed with protesters attempting to march along a highway leading to Manama, the Gulf kingdom’s capital.A source at the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights told Al Jazeera that she would be detained for seven days.Al-Khawaja, daughter of a prominent opposition leader, and several other women were holding a sit-in in Budaiya roundabout on Thursday.
Photographs and video footage circulated by activists showed a female police officer handcuffing and dragging al-Khawaja.
Tear gas and stun grenades were also used to disperse hundreds of anti-government protesters near the town of Diraz and other opposition stronghold villages west of the capital.
Riot police were seen chasing protesters away from entrances to the key highway and back into the largely Shia Muslim communities that line the road…
The clashes follow 10 months of unrest between Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy and an opposition movement led by the country’s majority Shia…
More than 35 people have died in clashes and protest-related violence since February, inspired by other Arab Spring revolts.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
– INDEX on Censorship – “Angry Arabiya” arrest belies Bahrain government commitment to reform, Sara Yasin, 15 Dec 2011
BACKGROUND
Protests led by Bahrain’s majority Shia community against the government’s policies have been underway since mid-February 2011. The Bahraini security forces responded with excessive force, using tear gas and live bullets to disperse demonstrators. Dozens of civilians were reportedly killed and many more wounded. The Bahraini government declared a State of Emergency on 15 March 2011 and brought in troops from neighbouring Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia to help suppress dissent. The State of Emergency was lifted on 3 June 2011 but those arrested and charged under that law have not been released. Opposition sources estimate that some four hundred people are currently on trial for their support of the protests, and further arrests and demonstrations are continuing. An inquiry by an international panel of human rights experts found police had used excessive force and King Hamad has pledged reforms.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
- Protesting the arrest of blogger and activist Zainab Al-Khawaja solely for peacefully exercising her right to free expression;
- Seeking assurances that she is not ill-treated whilst detained;
- Urging the Bahraini authorities to abide by their obligations under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all those currently detained in Bahrain solely for the peaceful expression their opinions, Zainab Al-Khawaja.
SEND APPEALS TO:
His Majesty Sheikh Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa
King of Bahrain
Office of His Majesty the King
P.O.Box 555
Rifa’a Palace
Kingdom of Bahrain
Fax: +973 176 64 587
Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al-Khalifa
Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs
P.O.Box 450
Al-Manama
Bahrain
Fax: +973 175 31 284
Dr. Fatima AL-Balushi
Minister of Human Rights and Social Development, Acting Minister of Health
Ministry of Human Rights and Development
Manama
Kingdom of Bahrain
For further information please contact Cathy McCann at International PEN Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: cathy.mccann@pen-international.org
Please contact International PEN if sending appeals after 31 December 2011
INTERNATIONAL PEN PRESS RELEASE: 10 December 2011
A year ago today, on International Human Rights Day, our colleague Liu Xiaobo, former president of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre (ICPC) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. One year on, he and over thirty other writers remain in prison in China. PEN International demands their immediate and unconditional release, and calls upon its members to take action to publicise the deteriorating human rights climate in the People’s Republic of China.
John Ralston Saul, President of PEN International, says, ‘Liu Xiaobo’s words will not disappear whether he is isolated in prison or released. These are Chinese ideas that will continue to spread of their own volition. However, by keeping him in jail, the Chinese authorities are putting a loud speaker to his words. They should free him and let ideas take their natural course.’
Liu Xiaobo was arrested on 8 December 2008 and held under ‘residential surveillance’, a form of pre-trial detention, at an undisclosed location in Beijing until he was formally charged on 23 June 2009 with ‘spreading rumours and defaming the government, aimed at subversion of the state and overthrowing the socialism system in recent years’. He was sentenced to eleven years in prison on 25 December 2009 for his critical writings and his role in launching Charter 08, a declaration calling for political reforms and human rights published on 9 December 2008, which now has over 10,000 signatories from throughout China.
Since 22 October 2010, two weeks after the Nobel announcement was made, his wife Liu Xia, a poet and photographer, has been held incommunicado under strict house arrest at her home in Beijing and is denied any contact with the outside world. At the December 2010 Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo, Liu Xiaobo’s medal and diploma were presented to an empty chair.
‘The PEN community stands with Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia,’ said Marian Botsford Fraser, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee. ‘We salute their courage. We will work indefatigably for the release of Liu and over thirty other writers and dissidents imprisoned in China.’
Liu Xiaobo first received support from PEN International in 1989, when he was one of a group of writers and intellectuals given the label the ‘Black Hands of Beijing’ by the government and arrested for their part in the Tiananmen Square protests. Prior to his current arrest, Liu has spent a total of five years in prison, including a three year sentence passed in 1996, and has suffered frequent short arrests, harassment and censorship.
NOTES TO EDITORS
PEN International celebrates literature and promotes freedom of expression. Founded in 1921, our global community of writers now comprises 144 Centres spanning more than 100 countries. Our programmes, campaigns, events and publications connect writers and readers for global solidarity and cooperation. PEN International is a non-political organization and holds consultative status at the United Nations and UNESCO.
For more information contact International PEN press office:
press@pen-international.org |44 (0) 20 7405 0338 +
Interviews with PEN International or the Independent Chinese PEN Centre can also be arranged through the following channels:
John Ralston Saul, President, PEN International:
|+1-416-964 2313 |
Marian Botsford Fraser, Writers in Prison Committee Chair
|m.b.f@sympatico.ca| +1-416-938-420 |
Yu Zhang, Executive Secretary, Independent Chinese PEN Centre:
|yuzhang08@live.se|+46-8-50022792 |
Sydney PEN and the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International welcomes the decision of an appeals court to reduce the sentence being served by university teacher and Internet writer Pham Minh Hoang. Hoang will still serve three years of house arrest after his release in January 2012. PEN International continues to call for the immediate and unconditional release of Pham Minh Hoang and all other writers and journalists currently detained in Vietnam in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Vietnam is a signatory.
Pham Minh Hoang (pen name Phan Kien Quoc) holds French and Vietnamese nationality. He was arrested in August 2010 and was sentenced a year later after being found guilty of “activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s government.” Pham’s three-year sentence was reduced on appeal to seventeen months at a hearing on 29 November 2011 at the People’s Supreme Court in Ho Chi Minh City. He is expected to be released on 12 January 2012.
In his blog, Pham Minh Hoang has written about a variety of social topics, including freedom of expression, education, the environment and workers rights. He is said to be a member of the banned party Viet Tan.
The following information is taken from a 29 November 2011 alert by Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF):
At today’s hearing, the appeal court judge said he had taken account of Hoang’s “recognition” of “his errors,” his request for clemency and his pledge to sever all ties with Viet Tan, an outlawed pro-democracy party. The judge said he also took account of his parents' age – they are both in their 90s – and the desire to “maintain good relations between France and Vietnam.”
PLEASE SEND APPEALS:
- Welcoming the reduction of the prison sentence handed down to university teacher and Internet writer Pham Minh Hoang;
- Calling for Pham Minh Hoang’s immediate and unconditional release, as well as of all those currently detained in Vietnam solely for the peaceful expression their opinions, in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam is a signatory.
APPEALS TO BE SENT TO:
Mr Truong Tan Sang
President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Mr Pham Binh Minh
Minister of Foreign Affairs
1 Ton That Dam Street
Ba Dinh district, Ha Noi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Fax: + 844 3823 1872
E-mail: bc.mfa "at" mofa.gov.vn
Please send appeals immediately. Check with PEN International if sending appeals after 12 January 2012.
Human rights activist, writer and Belarus PEN member Ales Byalyatski was sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment on 24 November 2011 on charges of tax evasion. The charges, which stemmed from Byalyatski’s use of personal bank accounts to receive funding for his human rights organization Vyasna, were described as “politically motivated” in a European Union report released earlier this week. The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International condemns the detention of Byalyatski on charges stemming from his legitimate human rights activism and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
Activist, writer and PEN member Ales Byalyatski
Byalyatski, head of the Vyasna (Spring) human rights centre, was a founding member of the Belarusian literary organization Tutejshyja (‘The Locals’) and served as a former head of the Maxim Bahdanovich Literary Museum in Minsk. He is also the author of a book of essays Jogging on the Geneva in 2006. He was arrested on 4 August 2011 and charged with tax evasion, charges which stemmed from his reported use of personal bank accounts in Lithuania and Poland to receive funding from international donors for Vyasna’s human rights activities in Belarus. Vyasna had campaigned for scores of opposition activists persecuted by the government of President Alexsander Lukashenko. The organization had been stripped of its official registration in 2003, making it extremely difficult under Belarus’s economic laws to raise funds for its activities.
On 23 November 2011 European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Commissioner Stefan Fuele called for Byalyatski’s immediate and unconditional release in a joint statement which stated, “We consider the charges against Ales Byalyatski in the ongoing trial a politically motivated pretext to target his important work [for] the benefit of victims of repressions”.
USEFUL LINKS
Further information on the sentencing of Ales Byalyatski
To view the EU statement on his detention see the "Joint Statement by High Representative Catherine Ashton and Commissioner Štefan Füle on the trial of Human Rights defender Ales Byalyatski", released 23 November 2011
For more information on freedom of expression issues in Belarus, see the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) archive on Belarus.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS
- Condemning the sentence given to Ales Byalyatski, which appears to be part of an attempt to clamp down on opposition activism in Belarus.
- Calling for him immediate and unconditional release.
SEND APPEALS TO:
President of the Republic of Belarus
Alyaksandr G. Lukashenka
Karl Marx Str. 38
220016 g. Minsk
Belarus
Fax: + 375 172 26 06 10 or +375 172 22 38 72
Email: pres “at” president.gov.by
Please note: there have been reports that the President's email address is not working, so please consider sending your appeals via the Belarusian government website
Please contact the PEN International Office if sending appeals after 23 December 2011
