Bahraini Writer and Journalist: Freedom of Expression II

PEN protests the detention of also this Bahraini author:

Abbas Al-Murshid, a well-known Bahraini writer and researcher, and a frequent contributor to the Bahraini daily Al-Waqt as well as numerous online publications. He has written about Bahrain's social unrest, corruption, institutional discrimination and other topics considered sensitive by the government. He was summoned on 15 May 2011 to appear at Al-Naeim police station for interrogation and has not been seen since. No charges have yet been made against Al-Murshid.

On 16 May 2011, he called his family to tell them that he had been placed under arrest and then the line was disconnected. Al-Murshid has been previously arrested on several occasions in relation to his writing and many of his books have been banned in Bahrain. At the end of January 2009, Al-Murshid was hit above his eye with a rubber bullet in a targeted attack and as a result he had to be admitted to hospital.
Background.

Send appeals to for Abbas Al-Murshid welbeing and freedom
and voice your concern concern about the one year of imprisonment of Ayat Al-Gormezi. Help her with her apeal! Stand by free speach.
His Majesty Sheikh Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa
King of Bahrain
Office of His Majesty the King
P.O.Box 555
Rifa’a Palace
Kingdom of Bahrain.
Fax: +973 176 64 587

Defending Freedom of expession is important hence follows an other part of a poem by Ayat A-Gormezi's

We do not like to live in a palace

And we are not after power

We are the people who

Break down humiliation

And discard oppression

With peace as our tool

We are people who

Do not want others to be living in the Dark Ages 

(Translated from the Arabic by Ghias Aljundi)

Bahrein: Poet sentenced: Ayat Al-Gormezi

The poet Ayat Al-Gormezi , 20 years old,  recited protest poems on March 30, 2011. She criticized the monarchy and demaned greater democracy. Her mother believes Ayat was tortured, since she had to be hospitalised as a result of ill-treatment. On June 2nd her trail began and on the 13th of June shewas sentenced to one year imprisonment.
International Pen and the WIPC's all over the world have written letters, send faxes or blogged about the case, also Pen Flanders where you find the Dutch translation of following poem:

Khalifa1

Ayat al-Ghormezi

Hear me:
You, the elder,
the “good man”, who “safeguards justice”
(so you have always declared),

if I were to make excuses for you,
I, for you,
for the things you have done,
I would only look the fool,
for you would continue in your ways,
and murder us as “traitors”.

Hear me:
Hear us all, for we all demand likewise –
both sects, all Bahrainis:

You must go.
Take His Majesty with you,
and leave your deeds behind.

You, oppressor,
from where do you derive your power,
the power to keep your people down? –
all your people,
even women
even children
even men.
Yet you call for “dialogue”,
even in the midst of your brutality?

No! … No! …
One word: No!
One demand:
Give us back our Bahrain.
Return this country to its people;
to us, its people.

Our Bahrain is ours.
translation into English:Ghias Aljundi

Samenwerking/Working together for Liu Xiaobo

Job Degenaar, voorzitter van WIPC Nederland schrijft: Bijgaande foto van Kluun en Bettine Vriesekoop (zgn. 'bekende Nederlanders') werd in een Utrechtse boekhandel genomen. Ze krijgen daar een poster met het gedicht van Xiaobo in onze vertaling. Die poster is door Amnesty International Nederland en PEN Nederland tot stand gekomen.

De tekst van het gedicht staat  tevens op de  website van Amnesty Nederland. In België verscheen een mooi stuk van David van Reybroeck in de Standaard van vorige zaterdag met de zelfde vertaling van het gedicht.

Job Degenaar, President of WIPC Nederlands wrote: This picture of Kluun and Bettine Vriesekoop (Dutch celebrities) was taken in a bookshop in Utrecht. They receive a poster with the poem of Liu Xiaobo in our translation. The poster is a result of the cooperation of of Amnesty International Nederlands and PEN Nederlands. The text also can be found on the website of Amnesty Netherlands.