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Turkey: PEN Centres urged to take action for Ragip Zarakolu and Büşra Ersanli a month after their arrest
PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) | 29 November 2011
Today, 29 November 2011, publisher and freedom of expression activist, Ragip Zarakolu, and academic Büşra Ersanlı, entered their second month of imprisonment for reasons that are a blatant breach of their right to freedom of expression.
A month ago, Zarakolu and Ersanlı, along with 41 others, were taken by police and imprisoned under Anti-Terror legislation, accused of “membership of an illegal organisation” and are being held in pre-trial detention. A date for their trial has yet to be set. These trials can take months, sometimes years, to conclude.
Today PEN International is calling on its world membership of writers to write to the Turkish ambassadors in their own countries to protest the arrests of Zarakolu and Ersanlı, to demand their release pending trial, and to raise concern about the around 70 other writers and journalists who are currently in prison and on trial in Turkey. Approaches should also be made to Centres’ own government foreign affairs departments urging that they raise PEN’s concerns about the arrests directly on a governmental level.
For a full list of all Turkish embassies worldwide and contact details please see http://www.mfa.gov.tr/ahmet-davutoglu.en.mfa
Summary of PEN International’s concerns:
- PEN is outraged at the continued detention of Ragip Zarakolu and Büsra Ersanlı;
- Their imprisonment is in breach of the international standards to which Turkey is committed, specifically Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, both of which protect the right to freedom of expression;
- They should be released pending trial in the expectation that the courts will recognise that the charges against them breach their rights to non-violentfreedom of expression and association, and that proceedings will be discontinued.
Elect Zarakolu and Ersanli as Honorary Members:
In light of concerns that even if Zarakolu and Ersanlı are freed pending trial, the process itself is likely to be long and arduous, PEN Centres are strongly urged to elect Ragip Zarakolu and Büsra Ersanlı as Honorary Members. Please let us know if your Centre does so, and we can ensure that you receive relevant background information and updates, and also connect you with other Centres who have similarly elected Turkish writers as Honorary Members. Contactsara.whyatt@pen-international.org
Sara Whyatt | Programme Director, Writers in Prison Committee | PEN International t. +44 (0)20 7405 0338 | m. +44 (0)7824640527 | e. Twitter | Facebook | www.pen-international.org
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