Writer, academic and publisher Ragip Zarakolu released an open letter from prison on 2 November 2011 through his lawyer. In the letter, which is reprinted below, Zarakolu, pictured speaking at a PEN event during the recent Frankfurt Book Fair, was arrested on 29 October 2011 and has been formally charged with “membership of an illegal organisation”. He is detained alongside over 40 other opposition activists, including writer and academic Professor Büşra Ersanlı.

Open letter from Ragip Zarakolu:

My arrest and the accusations of being a member of an illegal organisation are part of a campaign to intimidate all intellectuals and democrats living in Turkey and, more specifically, to isolate Kurds.

The police forces that searched my home found nothing more than what you would normally find in a writer’s home and confiscated these items as ‘evidence’.

Among these items were Habiba by Ender Öndeş, a book that is published and freely sold in Turkey, the second volume of Doğan Özgüden’s Vatansız Gazeteciler (Stateless Journalists), Barış Süreci (Peace Process) by Yüksel Genç, notes prepared for the publication of Alman Belgelerinde Ermeni Soykırımı (The Armenian Genocide according to German Sources), a short piece I had prepared for the back cover of former CHP (Republican People’s Party) MP Sırrı Özbek’’s latest book and a draft of a work called Ermeni Sözlü Tarih Çalışması (Armenian Oral History Project)

The government must give an explanation for why I was arrested only a week before I was due to travel to a conference in Berlin and, from there, to conferences at Colgate University (USA) and in Los Angeles and Michigan.

Under custody, I was deprived of all of my bank and credit cards, which are being kept by the authorities.

It is yet unclear when I will be able to exercise my right to trial, and it is evident that this state of affairs may last for months.

I have not been asked a single question regarding the organisation I am accused of being a member of; rather, I have only been pressed on works that I have written or edited, speeches I have given, and free and public meetings I have attended.

I believe that it is time to show a collective opposition to this wave of arrests, which has become a campaign of mass lynching, and that all moves by the authorities that go against the law and principles of due legal process must now cease.

With my greetings and my regards,

Ragip Zarakolu

[Note: the views expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of PEN International.]

Background

Ragip Zarakolu and Professor Büşra Ersanlı were arrested on 29 October 2011. Forty one people had been arrested the previous day under what is known as the Koma Civaken Kurdistan – trans Democratic Society Congress -  (KCK) operation that has been under way since 2009 leading to several hundred, some say over 1,000, arrests and trials. The KCK is accused of being a front for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), seen as its civil/political wing and thus also illegal.

Human rights groups monitoring the operation have reported concerns on a number of areas including lengthy pre-trial detention without bail (some have been held pending trial since the start of the operation in April 2009), that the charges may be politically motivated, and that fair trial standards are being ignored. Trade union and human rights activists, mayors and local politicians are among those arrested. For more on the KCK arrests read a report by the Kurdistan Human Rights Project..

Among the organisations seen to be linked to the KCK is the Peace and Democracy Party (Turkish Barış ve Demokrasi Partisi) (BDP). Thirty BDP representatives took their seats in the Turkish parliament on 1 October, among them longstanding Kurdish rights activist, Leyla Zana, a former PEN case. The BDP was created after the Democratic Society Party (DTP) was forcibly closed down in 2009 on accusation of affiliation to the PKK. The BDP has made it clear that is not affiliated to the PKK and holds its own independent policy. Despite this BDP and former DTP members have been arrested and harassed. Some activists claim that over 1,000 have been arrested on charges ranging from speaking Kurdish, making statements critical of the government, as well as having links to the KCK. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees has recently issued an analysis of the BDP and events since its formation in early 2010.

Professor Büşra Ersanli is an academic based at Istanbul’s Marmara university’s  Faculty of Political Science and International Relations. She is an expert on constitutional law and at the time of her arrest was working with the BDP’s Constitutional Commission.

Ragip Zarakolu is a well known political activist who has been fighting for freedom of expression in Turkey for over 30 years, publishing books on issues such as minority and human rights. As one of the 50 writers chosen to represent the struggle for freedom of expression since 1960 for the Writers in Prison Committee’s 50th Anniversary Campaign – Because Writers Speak Their Minds. In the days running up to his arrest, he had been campaigning for the release of his son, Deniz Zarakolu, who had been arrested three weeks earlier on 7 October, also under the KCK operation. Deniz is a PhD student of political thought and has translated academic works including Thomas Hobbes’ De Cive. See PEN alert.

Among the early KCK operation arrests was Muharrem Erbey, lawyer, writer and Turkey PEN, arrested in December 2009 who is still detained, and his trial is underway.  Representatives from PEN Centres have observed his trial. See alert.

PEN is monitoring the cases of several other writers similarly arrested for links to Kurdish political parties.

Please send appeals:

·        Expressing alarm at the arrests of Ragip Zarakolu, Professor Büşra Ersanli and Deniz Zarakolu, as well as the continued detention of Muharrem Erbey, and other writers and journalists accused for their affiliation with Kurdish political parties.

·        Referring to concerns that the arrests flout international standards protecting the rights to freedom of expression and association as guaranteed by both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the European Convention on Human and Democratic Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory.

·        Raising concerns that the trial are politically biased and do not conform to fair trial standards, and seeking assurances that these concerns are addressed as a matter of urgency.

Send appeals to:

Mr Sadullah Ergin
Minister of Justice
06669 Kizilay
Ankara
Turkey
Fax: 00 90 312 419 3370

Also to the Turkish ambassador in your country.

PEN International launches Day of the Dead campaign

On 2 November 2011, PEN International will launch a campaign to remember Mexican writers and print journalists who have been killed or disappeared in the course of their work.

PEN will call on the Mexican authorities to bring to justice those responsible for these crimes and to end the culture of impunity that exists for those who murder, attack and harass writers.

In the last five years, 35 journalists have been murdered and eight have gone missing; this year alone, nine journalists have been killed, four of whom were women.

Most of the dead were involved in investigating corruption or reporting on organised crime, and the level of violence against writers and reporters has soared since 2006, when President Calderón began a militarized campaign against the drug cartels. As Marian Botsford Fraser, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International, said:

“Mexico is one of the most dangerous places in the world in which to practise journalism.”

As part of the campaign, PEN members and writers will take part in traditional Day of the Dead activities, such as building altars decorated with the symbolic colours of purple (for pain), white (for hope) and pink (for celebration). These will be displayed alongside photographs of the dead at public readings, demonstrations and talks.

To see what PEN members around the world are doing as part of this campaign, please visit our web page www.pen-international.org

The campaign will both commemorate the writers and celebrate Mexico’s vibrant culture. Award-winning Mexican writers José Emilo Pacheco (see below) and Homero Aridjis have written poems especially for the Day of the Dead campaign. These will be published alongside editorials and interviews, which will expose the violence Mexican writers have suffered, and the threats they still face.

This atrocious month has finally passed

And left us so many dead

That even the air breathes death

And death is drunk in the water.

I can’t resist the wound of so much death.

Mexico cannot be the plural cemetery,

The enormous common grave

Where our hopes lie exhausted.

We already drown the future

In the abyss that opens each day.

José Emilio Pacheco, ‘The Altar of the Dead’

President of PEN International, John Ralston Saul said: “The situation in Mexico is an ongoing tragedy. But it is also a struggle for free expression which can be won and, with campaigns like that launched on the Day of the Dead, we will help to win it.”

PEN Melbourne will be holding its Annual General Meeting on :
Monday, November 28, 7.30pm
Venue:
North Fitzroy Star
32 St Georges Road South
North Fitzroy

Elections for all committee positions will take place.

The AGM will be followed at 8.30 by the End of Year Card Writing to Imprisoned Writers

Formed by PEN International with founder members Hachette Livre, Penguin Books and Random House early in 2011, the PEN International Publishers’ Circle announces its expansion today to embrace Scandinavian and Canadian Publishers, and its intention to grow across the world in the coming year. The Circle welcomes amongst its members the Swedish publishers Forlag AB, KF Media AB, Natur & Kultur and the independents’ group De Oberoende. Norway will be represented by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Aschehoug Forlag and Cappelen Damm, whilst Harper Collins Canada and Douglas & McIntyre have joined from Canada.

The PEN International Publishers’ Circle is the first organization of its kind. It believes that improving Freedom of Expression for writers creates the conditions needed for a successful and active publishing industry. The Circle invites publishers around the world, large and small, to support PEN’s work developing Freedom of Expression and ensuring that publishers and writers are free to operate in all countries and readers are free to access the books of their choice. PEN International President John Ralston Saul commented, “Without a solid publishing system, whether for books or journalism or any new technology, you cannot have freedom of speech. The purpose of the Publishers’ Circle is to join the work of publishing with PEN’s work on Freedom of Expression.”

PEN is marking its growing cooperation with the publishing world at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the biggest media and book fair in the world. At the PEN International event Free the Word: Times of Transition, John Ralston Saul will be joined by leading figures from the worlds of writing and publishing to discuss the social, political and technological transitions which are the evolving the challenges to freedom of expression and literature.

Speakers include Ronald Blunden, Head of Communications at Hachette Livre; Eva Bonnier, Chairman of Swedish Publishing Association and Publisher at Forlag AB; and Anders Heger, writer, publisher with Cappelen Damm, and President of Norwegian PEN.

Anders Heger says of Cappelen Damm’s participation: “For a publishing house that aspires to play a role in promoting freedom of speech, it is an honour to support PEN International and its vital work.” Eva Bonnier, Chairman of the Swedish Publishers Association, has highlighted the concrete steps that the Circle will take, commenting, “It is key that we fight for freedom of speech around the world. As Forlag AB, we are proud to be making a concrete commitment to this cause.”

Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, has expressed PEN’s place at the heart of the fair: “For many years, PEN International has been a fixed part of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Freedoms of speech, of press and of opinion have to be fought for anew, every day. These freedoms are the foundation of our whole industry. They are what PEN International stands for, and that is why we support PEN International.”

International Publishers gather in Frankfurt with PEN International to signal cooperation in the fight for freedom of expression across the world

Formed by PEN International with founder members Hachette Livre, Penguin Books and Random House early in 2011, the PEN International Publishers’ Circle announces its expansion today to embrace Scandinavian and Canadian Publishers, and its intention to grow across the world in the coming year. The Circle welcomes amongst its members the Swedish publishers Forlag AB, KF Media AB, Natur & Kultur and the independents’ group De Oberoende. Norway will be represented by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Aschehoug Forlag and Cappelen Damm, whilst Harper Collins Canada and Douglas & McIntyre have joined from Canada.

The PEN International Publishers’ Circle is the first organization of its kind. It believes that improving Freedom of Expression for writers creates the conditions needed for a successful and active publishing industry. The Circle invites publishers around the world, large and small, to support PEN’s work developing Freedom of Expression and ensuring that publishers and writers are free to operate in all countries and readers are free to access the books of their choice. PEN International President John Ralston Saul commented, “Without a solid publishing system, whether for books or journalism or any new technology, you cannot have freedom of speech. The purpose of the Publishers’ Circle is to join the work of publishing with PEN’s work on Freedom of Expression.”

PEN is marking its growing cooperation with the publishing world at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the biggest media and book fair in the world. At the PEN International event Free the Word: Times of Transition, John Ralston Saul will be joined by leading figures from the worlds of writing and publishing to discuss the social, political and technological transitions which are the evolving the challenges to freedom of expression and literature. Speakers include Ronald Blunden, Head of Communications at Hachette Livre; Eva Bonnier, Chairman of Swedish Publishing Association and Publisher at Forlag AB; and Anders Heger, writer, publisher with Cappelen Damm, and President of Norwegian PEN.

Anders Heger says of Cappelen Damm’s participation: “For a publishing house that aspires to play a role in promoting freedom of speech, it is an honour to support PEN International and its vital work.” Eva Bonnier, Chairman of the Swedish Publishers Association, has highlighted the concrete steps that the Circle will take, commenting, “It is key that we fight for freedom of speech around the world. As Forlag AB, we are proud to be making a concrete commitment to this cause.”

Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, has expressed PEN’s place at the heart of the fair: “For many years, PEN International has been a fixed part of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Freedoms of speech, of press and of opinion have to be fought for anew, every day. These freedoms are the foundation of our whole industry. They are what PEN International stands for, and that is why we support PEN International.”

State Library of Victoria Tuesday 11 October 2011, 6–8pm State Library of Victoria Conference Centre, Village Roadshow Theatrette, Entry 3, 179 La Trobe Street

Free event followed by book signing and light refreshments

RMIT School of Media and Communication presents acclaimed author and RMIT Writer-in-Residence Kim Scott in conversation with Arnold Zable. The pair will discuss language, culture and the “friendly frontier” in relation to Associate Professor Scott’s award-winning novel That Deadman Dance (2011), as well as the Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories project, at the State Library of Victoria on Tuesday, 11 October.

Kim Scott has won a number of prestigious awards for his novel That Deadman Dance (2011) including the Miles Franklin Award, the inaugural Victorian Prize for Literature and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction. His second novel, Benang (1999), was joint winner in of the Miles Franklin in 2000, and it also won the West Australian Premier’s Book Award. His debut novel was True Country (1993). In addition to his novels, he has also published short stories and poetry. Kim’s ancestral Noongar country is the south-east coast of Western Australia, between Gairdner River and Cape Arid.

Arnold Zable is a dynamic and highly acclaimed storyteller, novelist and human rights advocate. His books include the recent book Violin Lessons (2011), the award winning Jewels and Ashes (1992), The Fig Tree (2002) and the novels Café Scheherazade (2001) Scraps of Heaven (2004) and Sea of Many Returns (2008). He is co-author of Kan Yama Kan a play in which Asylum Seekers tell their stories, and has spent considerable time with refugees held in Australian detention centres. He is president of the International PEN, Melbourne and has a doctorate in the School of Arts, University of Melbourne.

This is a free event, but bookings are essential. To reserve a seat please email Melody Ellis

For further information about this event and the RMIT Writers-in-Residence program please contact Dr Francesca Rendle-Short on 03 9925 9052.

The RMIT Writers-in-Residence program is supported generously through the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) Cultural Fund. This event is supported by Readings, State Library.

RMIT University

School of Media and Communication