In this week’s Blind Chess Tienchi Martin-Liao shares the story of He Depu, a human rights activist and former political prisoner, who was recently forced by the Chinese government to take a vacation “in the name of stability.”
Read more...
In this week’s “Nightwatch” Venezuelan writer Israel Centeno uses executed Russian writer Isaak Babel as a jumping off point to explore humanity’s long, complex relationship with Paradise.
Read more...
Author Khet Mar profiles Htein Lin, a Burmese painter and performance artist who spent seven years in prison for his work.
Read more...
In this week’s Tea House column, writer Khet Mar profiles Maung Aung Pwint, a Burmese poet who was imprisoned for eight years for “illegal possession of a fax machine” and “sending news” to foreign media organizations.
Read more...
“Why do writers risk imprisonment or death for an idea?” In this week’s Ethiopiques journalist Mesfin Negash reflects on the risks faced by journalists, activists, and human rights defenders.
Read more...
Today the world will gather to mark the annual World Press Freedom Day in Tunisia where the Arab Spring was ignited. I am sure the government of Ethiopia will also “celebrate” the WPFD by organizing some kind of communist-style public drama.
Read more...
Khet Mar reflects on her friend Win Maw, a renowned musician and video journalist, who spent years in prison for his support of Aung San Suu Kyi and his involvement in documenting the Saffron Revolution in 2007. He was released in January, 2012.
Read more...
Released from jail after one year’s incarceration, renowned Turkish investigative journalists Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener remain on trial with 11 other reporters for being suspected members of alleged terrorist group Ergenekon.
Read more...
Faraj Bayrakdar spent 14 years as a political prisoner, living horrors of torture and solitude until his release in 2000. In this interview, he talks about prison, torture, and the Arab Spring.
Read more...
The latest staging of The Impossible Music Sessions, an initiative that puts the spotlight on performers who otherwise might never be heard, was dedicated to the imprisoned Iranian singer Arya Aramnejad.
Read more...