On the day of the Imprisoned Writer, PEN International has made a statement calling for release of writers and journalists that are imprisoned. As part of the international solidarity action, world renowned artists have written letters of support for a select group of free expression advocates.
[mks_dropcap style="letter" size="52" bg_color="#ffffff" txt_color="#000000"]I[/mks_dropcap]n the statement issued by PEN International has drawn attention to the curtailing of free expression by governments globally. Salil Tripathi, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee has said “15 November is a day of solidarity and action. It’s a day in which PEN’s global community stands with those writers who are paying a heavy price for their commitment and belief that we all have a right to express ourselves freely and peacefully. It is a day on which we say, in one voice, that they are not alone. It is also a day on which we tell those governments who seek to silence writers that we will continue to stand with them and against any authority, system, or power that views the right to free expression as a threat.”

FIVE WRITERS EACH YEAR UNDER SPOTLIGHT

Each year, PEN highlights the cases of five persecuted writers that may be imprisoned, facing prosecution, or under risk in some way. Cases of these writers are emblematic of similar troubles that writers and journalists are facing all around the world. PEN centers globally stand in solidarity and join the action against limitations in front of free expression.
In 2017, PEN International has decided to focus on following five cases:

• PEN member and activist Cesario Alejandro Félix Padilla Figueroa facing ongoing prosecution in Honduras; • Blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh serving a 10-year prison sentence in Viet Nam; • Award-winning cartoonist and activist Ramón Esono Ebalé currently detained in Equatorial Guinea; • Human rights defender, blogger, and lawyer Razan Zaitouneh disappeared in Syria, and; • Poet and artist Zehra Doğan currently imprisoned in Turkey.

As part of this year’s campaign, renowned writers and activists Homero Arijdis, Neil Gaiman, Kamila Shamsie, Madeleine Thien and Ai Weiwei, have written letters of solidarity to the five writers. Turkish artist Zehra Doğan has received the following letter from Ai Weiwei:

Dear Zehra Doğan,

I received word of your imprisonment under the Turkish authorities. Although I come from an authoritarian society where freedom of speech is limited, it came as a shock to hear that an artist was imprisoned for making a painting reflecting the reality of today. If a state can sentence an artist, journalist, or writer in such a fashion then we are truly living in a dark age where no ideas or creativity can be protected and flourish. Such a society cannot possibly cope with today’s condition where knowledge and ideas are freely exchanged all over the world, where open discussions and criticism are absolutely necessary for a functioning democracy. Only societies that protect freedom of speech and expression can meet the challenges presented by globalization and have any chance of a positive future.

People have paid a price in the struggle for freedom of speech and expression, which is unfortunate but also necessary. I am impressed by your work and I wish you well. I hope the Turkish government understands the wrongful action they have taken towards artists, journalists, writers and professors and release all prisoners of conscience. I call for your immediate and unconditional release.

Ai Weiwei

November 11, 2017

[caption id="attachment_9389" align="alignnone" width="600"] Zehra Doğan's painting on Nusaybin[/caption]