Turkey is currently the world’s biggest jailer of journalists: one third of all imprisoned journalists in the world are being held in Turkish prisons, the vast majority waiting to be brought to trial.
On 3 May 2017, World Press Freedom Day, English PEN will be joining forces with fellow NGOs to host a vigil outside the Turkish Embassy in London, in protest over the detention of journalists and writers in Turkey.
Free Turkey Media vigil
Wednesday 3 May, 5.30pm
Turkish Embassy, 43 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PA
You can also support the Free Turkey Media campaign with a photo, message of solidarity or letter to the authorities.
ERITREA
Eritrea continues to be one of the worst jailers of writers and dissident voices, ranked 179th of 180 countries on RSF’s 2017 World Press Freedom Index, just ahead of North Korea.
Ahead of World Press Freedom Day, PEN has renewed its calls on the Eritrean authorities to release immediately and unconditionally all journalists detained incommunicado and without trial, including Eritrean-Swedish journalist Dawit Isaak, winner of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2017. English PEN will be joining fellow organisations to celebrate Isaak in London on 4 May.
Press Freedom, Activism and Writing in Eritrea: an evening to celebrate Dawit Isaak
Thursday 4 May, 7pm
Djam Lecture Theatre, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, WC1H 0XG
CHINA
In the last year, China’s human rights record continued to deteriorate as police stepped-up their nation-wide crackdown on critics with wide-spread reports of torture, disappearances, forced confessions and long-term imprisonments.
Join PEN in calling for the release of Chinese writers including Uyghur scholar and PEN member Ilham Tohti, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former president of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre (ICPC) Liu Xiaobo, and veteran journalist Gao Yu.