India: Artists protest against state-sponsored censorship
A protest march demanded that the Bombay High court immediately release of members of the cultural troupe Kabir Kala Manch. Published on YouTube.com on 8 May 2013. On 2 May 2013, artists, writers, journalists, filmmakers, students, cultural activists and actors from theatre groups marched in protest from Sriram Centre to Maharashtra Sadan in Mumbai demanding [...]
Russia: Request for parole from Pussy Riot member rejected in court
A court in the Russian region of Mordovia has denied a request for parole from 23-year-old Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, mother of a five-year-old and one of two jailed members of the feminist punk collective Pussy Riot, reported Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty with quotes from Interfax, AFP, and Russia Today Judge Lidiya Yakovleva said in [...]
Uzbekistan: Writer released after over 14 years in prison
The award-winning Uzbek writer Mamadali Makhmudov has finally been released after over 14 years in prison, reported PEN International on 23 April 2013. In the late evening of 19 April 2013, Mamadali Makhmudov walked out of prison and met his five grand-children for the first time. His wife told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that her [...]
Tunisia: Artists imprisoned because of rap video
Actress Sabrine Klibi and cameraman Mohamed Hedi Belgueyed were sentenced to six months in prison for their participation in the music video ‘Cops are Dogs’, reported Tunisia Live. At the Court of First Instance of Ben Arous, a southern suburb of Tunis, the artists were charged according to five articles of the Tunisian Penal Code [...]
Morocco: Rapper El Haked is finally free
After being arrested twice and serving a one year jail term for his critical lyrics ‘Kilab ed-Dowla’ (‘Dogs of the State’), Mouad Belghouat, whose alias is El Haked (also spelled: Haqed), is finally free, reported Jadaliyya on 2 April 2013. El Haked’s trial attracted huge crowds and brought international and national scrutiny on the supposed [...]
Uzbekistan: Writer faces another prison term
Uzbekistani writer Mamadali Makhmudov will not be released from prison on completion of his 14-year jail term, reported Amnesty International. On 5 March 2013, Makhmudov was told that a new criminal case had been filed against him for allegedly violating prison rules. Makhmudov is one of the longest serving writers in prison, having been held [...]
Vietnam: Fears for the health of imprisoned writer
RAPID ACTION NETWORK • 28 March 2013 PEN International is seriously concerned for the health of writer and activist Nguyen Huu Cau, who is seriously ill and denied adequate medical care in the prison camp where he is serving a life-time sentence for his critical writings. PEN International protests his imprisonment, and demands his immediate [...]
Cameroon: PEN calls for renewed support to imprisoned writer
PEN American Center announced that Cameroonian poet and writer Enoh Meyomesse has been named an Honorary Member of PEN and launched a dynamic interactive timeline to draw attention to his case. On 27 December 2012, Meyomesse was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of stealing and illegally selling gold. No witnesses or evidence [...]
Turkmenistan: Two popular singers released from prison
The two popular singers Maksat Kakabaev and Murad Ovezov were released from prison as part of an amnesty celebrating the National Flag Day in Turkmenistan, reported Freedom Now: “Maksat Kakabaev (also known as MARO) and Murad Ovezov are popular singers who were wrongfully detained in Turkmenistan on fabricated charges. Mr. Kakabaev and Mr. Ovezov were [...]
Qatar: Poet’s life sentence reduced
On 25 February 2013, poet Mohammed Ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami’s life sentence for a critical poem was reduced to 15 years. A final ruling by the Supreme Court is expected within 30 days, reported PEN International. The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International considers Al-Ajami to be convicted in violation of his right to freedom [...]
Cuba: Writer sentenced to five years in prison
Writer and blogger Ángel Santiesteban Prats has been sentenced to five years in prison for alleged trespassing and assault on the basis of an apparently flawed trial, wrote The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International on 22 February 2013. Ángel Santiesteban Prats is an award-winning writer and author of the blog ‘The Children Who [...]
International artists support imprisoned Iranian singer
In a letter to the Iranian authorities, world renowned artists join Freemuse in a protest against the imprisonment of their Iranian colleague Arya Aramnejad. The artists’ appeal letter [PDF] Singer Lapiro de Mbanga, who successfully ran a case against Cameroon in The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention because of his wrongful imprisonment, is [...]
Cameroon: Seven-year prison sentence confirmed for writer
On 8 January 2013 it was announced that writer Enoh Meyomesse is to be honoured with an Oxfam Novib / PEN Freedom of Expression Award. More than a year after his arrest, he was sentenced to seven years in prison on 27 December 2012. The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International believes Meyomesse’s detention, [...]
China: Campaign for imprisoned writer and poet
An international campaign has been launched by PEN International in partnership with the Dublin-based human rights group Front Line Defenders to call for the release of poet and writer Liu Xiaobo — and that of all those currently detained in the P.R. China in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and [...]
Qatar: Poet Al-Ajami sentenced to life in prison
A Qatari court’s life sentence for the poet Muhammad Ibn al-Dheeb Al-Ajami after a grossly unfair trial on 29 November 2012 “flagrantly violates the right to free expression”, Human Rights Watch said on 4 December 2012. AMY GOODMAN, journalist, Democracy Now: “So, if someone read Mohammad’s poem today in Qatar out loud, they too would [...]
Russia: No regrets for Pussy Riot despite bad treatment during court case
Index on Censorship had the exclusive opportunity to interview Pussy Riot member Ekatrina Samutsevich who was freed by a Moscow court on 10 October 2012. The interview took place during the same week as Samutsevich’s friends and fellow band mates Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were sent to prison camps in remote Russian regions. Samutsevich [...]
Vietnam: Two musicians sentenced to four and six years in prison
A Vietnamese court convicted two renowned musicians to four and six years imprisonment for anti-state propaganda and links to a banned political group, one of their lawyers said on 30 October 2012. Viet Khang, 34, (real name: Vo Minh Tri) was given a four-year prison term while Hoang Nhat Thong, 37, (real name: Tran Vu [...]
Russia: Pussy Riot member freed, two others to remain in prison
On 10 October 2012, a Moscow appeals court freed one of the jailed Pussy Riot members, 30-year-old Ekaterina Samutsevich, but upheld the two-year prison sentence for the two others who are to serve remainder of their sentences in penal colony. All three women were convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for an [...]
Exiled Burmese artist: “Self-censorship is second nature”
Interviews with two Burmese artists: Chaw Ei Thein, who now lives in exile in the United States, on the situation in Burma in 2012, and Htein Lin, who describes how he maintained his artistic work while in prison. Chaw Ei Thein was briefly imprisoned after having made a political performance piece in the streets of [...]
Pussy Riot found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison
On 17 August 2012, the three members of the punk collective Pussy Riot received guilty verdicts and were each sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. According to the judge, they had “deeply insulted the faith of believers with their disrespectful criminal act and that the punk protest was blasphemous against the orthodox church.” When the heavy [...]
Morocco: Rapper El Haked’s sentence upheld in court of appeal
On 27 July 2012, the Casablanca court of appeal upheld the one year prison sentence given to rapper El Haked in May. The court confirmed that his police-critical song circulating on Youtube together with a ridiculing photo-montage was ‘detrimental to public servants’. 24-year-old rapper Mouad Belghouate, known as El Haked
Turkey: Singer Ferhat Tunç sentenced to two years in prison
A court in the eastern province of Malatya sentenced Kurdish singer and composer Ferhat Tunç to two years in prison on terrorism related charges due to his invocation during a speech in 2011 where he mentioned names of three deceased Turkish leftists, reported BIA News Center on 27 June 2012. During the May 1st celebrations [...]
Russia: Punk group Pussy Riot to remain in prison
On 20 June 2012, a Tagansky district court ruled to keep the three detained band members of Pussy Riot in prison until 24 July 2012 while the police probe continues. Since February 2012, three band members of the all-female punk rock band from Moscow have been in the Butyrskaya prison, while two other members are [...]
One year prison sentence for Morrocan rapper who criticised police
The sentencing of a rapper on 11 May 2012 to one year in prison for “insulting the police” shows the gap between the strong free-expression language in Morocco’s 2011 constitution and the continuing intolerance for those who criticise state institutions, Human Rights Watch stated. Statement and report from Rabat by Human Rights Watch The sentence [...]
Azerbaijan: Two musicians detained
Two musicians and the leader of a youth organisation were detained after protests in the capital Baku on 17 March 2012. They are currently being held in Sabael District Police Office, and there is concern that they have been subjected to torture. “Fresh doubts have been raised about the suitability of Azerbaijan to host May’s Eurovision [...]
