English PEN and PEN International are delighted to be hosting an event at this year’s Wilderness Festival in Oxfordshire, UK.
Bangladesh is fast becoming one of the most dangerous countries in the world for bloggers and free thinkers. The last 18 months have seen at least nine of our colleagues brutally murdered for their views and writing, and many others attacked. An atmosphere of almost complete impunity prevails, emboldening the killers. The Bangladeshi authorities have failed to take any significant action to protect those most at risk, instead implying that the responsibility for avoiding such attacks lies with the victims.
Meanwhile, other writers are serving lengthy prison sentences, self-censorship is rife, and more and more writers and activists are being forced into exile through fearing for their own safety and that of their families.
Join Bangladeshi publisher Tutul, Ahsan Akbar, director of the Dhaka Literary Festival, and PEN’s Salil Tripathi to discuss what is driving the current deterioration of free expression in the country, and what the international community can do to help.
Hosted by English PEN and PEN International