Starting with good news – releases and awards
Release of Chau Van Kham
Australian man Chau Van Kham has been released from a Vietnamese prison and reunited with his family in Australia. Mr Chau, a retired baker from Sydney, was detained in Vietnam in January 2019 and sentenced to 12 years in prison on terrorism charges. Mr Chau’s wife, Trang, told the ABC it had been more than four and a half years since the family had seen him. For the original article, see here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-11/chau-van-kham-released-prison-vietnam-returns-australia/102586350
Release of Burmese writers
As of 3:40 pm 3MAY, close family and friends confirmed that the journalists: Ko Kyaw Zayar, a journalist from Mawkun Magazine; Ma Nyein Nyein Aye (aka) Ma Mabel, a journalist from Mizzima; Freelance Photojournalist Ko Zaw Lin Htut; Freelance Photojournalist Ko Zaw Tun; Film Director and Producer Ma Eaint; and Ma Yin Yin Thein, have been released.
Full details in the article: https://mpapress.com/en/press-photo/20393/
Hany Babu to Get Honorary Doctorate from Belgian Varsity
Delhi University’s associate professor Hany Babu – incarcerated over what the National Investigation Agency has claimed is his connection with the Elgar Parishad case – will be awarded an honorary doctorate by the Ghent University of Belgium.
The professor’s wife, scholar Jenny Rowena who is an assistant professor at Miranda House in Delhi, in a press release announced that the university’s faculty of Arts and Philosophy nominated his name and “justified its nomination by pointing at his efforts to safeguard the importance of academic freedom and his commitment to language rights and equal access to education for minorities.”
The full article is here: https://thewire.in/education/hany-babu-ghent-belgium-university-honorary-doctorate
PEN Perth’s previous discussion with Jenny Rowena is here: https://youtube.com/live/_yvIsLqwwpE
Other updates
Pham Doan Trang (journalist) – The People’s Court of Hanoi will hold an appeals trial for Pham Doan Trang on 25 August. On 14 December 2021, Trang was sentenced to nine years by the court for “making, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.”
Frances An’s (PEN Perth member) previous opinion piece ‘Pham Doan Trang’s 9-Year Sentence: An Outrageous Affront To Human Dignity’ (2022): https://www.thevietnamese.org/2022/01/phams-9-year-sentence-an-outrageous-affront-to-human-dignity/
Varavara Rao (poet), news at 5 June 2023 – The Bombay High Court rejected the plea by the Elgar Parishad case accused Telugu poet and activist, who had sought permission for travelling to Hyderabad to undergo cataract surgery.
Passing of Nyi Pu Lay
Below is a message from Ross Holder (Head of Asia/ Pacific Region) on the passing of writer and President of PEN Myanmar, Nyi Pu Lay. It has been very slightly edited for sense within the context of this newsletter.
Dear friends,
The PEN community mourns the passing of writer and President of PEN Myanmar, Nyein Chan (henceforth referred to by his pen name, Nyi Pu Lay).
On 21 June 2023, Nyi Pu Lay died following a heart attack. Since the coup, Nyi Pu Lay had been living in hiding, preventing him from receiving adequate medical care due to the risk of arrest by the military junta.
Nyi Pu Lay was PEN Myanmar’s longest-serving president and a recipient of Myanmar’s National Literature Award in 2016. Born in 1952, Nyi Pu Lay was the youngest son of Ludu Daw Amar and Ludu U Hla, both prominent dissident writers and journalists. Nyi Pu Lay followed in his parents’ footsteps, becoming one of Myanmar’s most celebrated writers. He also was unyielding in his principled opposition to military dictatorship and was first imprisoned by the regime along with his mother for several months in 1978. In 1990 he was arrested and sentenced to ten years imprisonment for alleged contact with “illegal organisations”. He was released in 1999 along with fellow writer and founder of PEN Myanmar, Ma Thida.
On behalf of PEN Centres around the world, PEN International expresses its deepest condolences to Nyi Pu Lay’s family, friends, and fellow members of PEN Myanmar during this extremely difficult time. May his writing continue to be a source of joy and inspiration for readers around the world.
Sincerely,
Ross.
Ongoing issues
EU states welcoming of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
There has been some concern about EU states’ welcoming of Narendra Modi, amid concerns of Modi’s suppression of free speech in India. Here are some articles to catch you up with the issue.
‘India’s Modi Guest of Honor at France’s Bastille Day Parade’: https://www.voanews.com/a/india-s-modi-guest-of-honor-at-france-s-bastille-day-parade/7180608.html
‘EU Parliament condemns India over Manipur violence, New Delhi slams ‘colonial mindset’: https://www.wionews.com/india-news/ahead-of-pm-modis-visit-eu-parliament-slams-india-over-manipur-violence-new-delhi-retorts-615174
‘Modi’s Silence Gets Starker as India’s Riot-ravaged Manipur State Gains Global Attention’: https://thediplomat.com/2023/07/modis-silence-gets-starker-as-indias-riot-ravaged-manipur-state-gains-global-attention/
‘Manipur violence: India condemns EU Parliament resolution on ethnic violence’: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66161599
PEN America’s fight against book bans
Books are under profound attack in the United States. They are disappearing from library shelves, being challenged in droves, being decreed off limits by school boards, legislators, and prison authorities. And everywhere, it is the books that have long fought for a place on the shelf that are being targeted. Books by authors of color, by LGBTQ+ authors, by women. Books about racism, sexuality, gender, history. PEN America pushes back against the banning of books and the intolerance, exclusion, and censorship that undergird it. For more information on PEN America’s project, see: https://pen.org/issue/book-bans/
penperth.com 