Tom Stoppard to Oleg Sentsov Dear Oleg, I’ve been in New York rehearsing a play in which a businessman banishes a journalist from his good graces with the words “You wrote yourself into Siberia!”. What an easy metaphor for an English writer! I came home a couple of days ago and caught up with the Read more about PEN International: Day of the Imprisoned Writer[…]
Please follow the link to find the report: Russia’s Strident Stifling of Free Speech. Presented October 10, 2018
The letter #1992311 was received by the censors of the IK-8 Labytnangi institution for processing on August 20, 2018. Dear Oleg, We keep thinking about your struggle with awe and sympathize with it. All throughout these one hundred days, members of “The Free Word Association” has been trying to support your demands by individual and Read more about The letter sent by *The Free Word Association* to Oleg Sentsov as part of the *International PEN Club* action devoted to the 100th day of his hunger strike “Marathon of Letters in Support of Oleg Sentsov”[…]
Keeping Score at the 2018 World Cup: Reporting on the dark side of Russia Since 1992, 58 journalists have been murdered in Russia, the majority with total impunity. Today, football teams from around the world will congregate in Russia for the 2018 World Cup. To mark the start of the tournament, PEN International is launching Read more about PEN International: Keeping Score at the 2018 World Cup[…]
PEN International publishes Case List, documenting the increasing threats to freedom of expression worldwide The PEN International Case List, published today by the global writers association, documents egregious violations of freedom of expression worldwide. From cases of harassment, arrests, attacks, imprisonments and killings of writers and journalists around the world – it is clear that Read more about PEN International about Oleg Sentsov[…]
Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov sentenced to 20 years in Russian prison and seen as a political prisoner by Memorial organization, holds an infinite hunger strike demanding to free all Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia. People who know him are sure that he will stand to the end. We demand that Sentsov be sent to his Read more about Save Oleg Sentsov![…]
Solidarity in Response to Rash of Sexual Harassment Accusations in Russia Shows That Times Are Changing—Slowly Many in the media are rallying behind the female journalists who have accused State Duma deputy Leonid Slutsky of sexual harassment. The article by Nadezhda Azhgikhina, a member of the Free Word Association, has recently been published in The Read more about Nadezhda Azhgikhina’s article in The Nation[…]
Joint Statement of the Free Word Association, PEN St. Petersburg and Masters of Literary Translation Guild On the Decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to terminate the activities of the British Council in the Russian Federation March 19, 2018 Russia terminates the activities of the British Council, an organization which has been working in Read more about On the Decision to terminate the activities of the British Council in the Russian Federation[…]
I begin by thanking PEN Ukraine and PEN International for inviting me to speak today. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a privilege to be invited to speak at the opening of this International PEN Congress, here in Lviv. Our world is facing new challenges, as the rise of nationalism and xenophobia causes governments around Read more about Philippe Sands’ keynote speech at the 83rd PEN congress in Lviv[…]
The 83rd Congress of the International PEN Club began September 18 in Lviv. Members of the Free Word Association contribute to its work. September 20, three discussions were organized, which focused on the USA, China, and Russia. Serguei Parkhomenko, the member of the FWA action group, presented a paper on the problem of the freedom Read more about Presentation by the Free Word Association at the International PEN Congress[…]
Who and how violates the legal norms, which guarantee freedom of expression and freedom of speech in modern Russia? How is the Law on protection of journalists’ rights, independence of media and freedom of press actually enforced? What forms of censorship – officially banned by the Russian Constitution – are nevertheless systematically applied by the authorities?
