PEN America

"A blatant attack on artistic freedom by Russian authorities," says Polina Sadovskaya, Ph.D. "Labeling these artists as terrorists or extremists is a grave injustice," says Julie Trébault. Read the full statement from PEN America and the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) In response to today’s sentencing by a Moscow court of theater director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk to six years in a maximum-security penal colony on charges of “justifying terrorism”:

Producer and writer Abdul Aziz al-Muzaini was sentenced to 13 years in prison and a 13-year travel ban by the Saudi government for “promoting terrorism and homosexuality” in his animated series Masameer. Saudi Arabia is a top jailer of writers globally, with 19 writers in custody during 2023 according to the #FreedomToWrite Index. When writers are released, many of their rights are restricted by bans on speaking publicly or traveling. We urge the court to overturn al-Muzaini’s conviction. https://lnkd.in/eERtkWk6

At #HRC56, we were honored to speak alongside writers and human rights defenders Ma Thida, Iryna Kozikava, and Fatemeh Ekhtesari to discuss why the international community must urgently protect writers at risk globally and defend the freedom to write. “Individual writers, artists, and other cultural figures can help hold governments, individuals, and institutions to account in a way that few others can,” said Polina Sadovskaya, PEN America's advocacy & Eurasia director. The risks that writers face affect how all of us can write, speak, read, and live freely. Thank you to PEN International, the Permanent Mission of Poland to the UN in Geneva, and the Permanent Mission of Estonia to the UN in Geneva for co-sponsoring the event "Based on a True Story". #FreedomToWrite

Amidst a contentious election season, it’s critical to ensure the safety of journalists covering protests, rallies, and civil unrest. To support journalists, PEN America has teamed up with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) to host a free webinar series, U.S. Election Safety Summer, focused on physical, digital, legal, and psychological safety. If you’re a journalist covering the election, read our latest blog post offering topline tips for assessing your safety, including how to come up with a safety plan, what to bring in your reporting kit, and how to rest and recover after a challenging assignment. Check out the blog here: https://lnkd.in/eRxbuGGX And be sure to attend our next webinar, hosted by CPJ, which will equip journalists with the necessary skills to navigate their physical safety in high-risk situations, including rallies, protests, and civil unrest. We’ll cover situational awareness, handling aggression, understanding police tactics, using personal protective equipment, and managing protest-related weaponry. Leading the session are two experts in the field: Lucy Westcott, Director of CPJ's Emergencies Department, and Colin Pereira, CPJ's Journalist Safety Specialist. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your safety skills and ensure you are prepared for the challenges ahead. Join us on Tuesday, July 9 from 12:00-1:30pm EDT. You can find full details and registration here https://lnkd.in/eV4zDbCH #ElectSafely with Coalition Against #OnlineViolence

Tennessee teacher Matthew Hawn was dismissed in 2021 for discussing white privilege and racial equity in a high school contemporary issues class. Hawn, who shared his story for the new book and video series, "Trouble in Censorville," lost an appeal of his termination to the school board and faces a hearing next week before the Sullivan County chancery court to try to reclaim his place in the classroom. Hawn was dismissed after he shared a poem called "White Privilege" and an article by Ta-Nehisi Coates with the class as part of their discussions about racism. He had taught the class that got him fired, “Contemporary Issues,” for nearly a decade without a single parent complaint. "Our students want to have these conversations. However, there is a small, vocal, and well-funded group of parents and community members who are leading this culture war that we see in schools today," Hawn says. See more interviews with teachers caught up in the war on education at censorville.com.

July 1 is the birthday of Volodymyr Vakulenko, a poet and children’s book author from Ukraine. He was kidnapped by Russian-affiliated forces in March 2022 and killed at the age of 49 during the occupation of Kharkiv Oblast. Before his abduction, Vakulenko buried his diary in his family garden, chronicling life under Russian occupation. Working with his family, the late writer and PEN Ukraine member Victoria Amelina found and preserved his diary, which is now kept at the Kharkiv Literary Museum. In 2023, on July 1, writer Victoria Amelina died from injuries sustained in a Russian missile strike on a restaurant in Kramatorsk, Eastern Ukraine. She was accompanying a delegation of writers and journalists from Colombia to document war crimes. We commemorate the lives of writers Volodymyr Vakulenko and Victoria Amelina, and recognize the immeasurable toll on cultural life in Ukraine due to Russia’s full-scale invasion. Writers play a unique role in supporting human rights, and we urge the international community to recognize this crucial role by protecting those at risk and their rights.

PEN America has joined an amicus brief to support a federal lawsuit challenging the law that would ban TikTok throughout the United States starting in January 2025. https://lnkd.in/eJrNtFHj

Writers and artists play a unique role in building support for universal human rights. They catalyze our imaginations and offer a vision for a better future. For this, sometimes they pay a high price. Join us at #HRC56 to hear from writers at risk defending #FreeExpression. This is an in-person event held Monday July 1 at 1pm CET, co-sponsored by PEN International, the Permanent Mission of Estonia to the United Nations in Geneva, and the Permanent Mission of Poland to the United Nations in Geneva.

PEN America Speaks: How We Defended and Celebrated Free Expression The Week of June 24 https://lnkd.in/eyCssUEJ

Writers and artists play a unique role in building support for universal human rights. They catalyze our imaginations and offer a vision for a better future. For this, sometimes they pay a high price. Join us at #HRC56 to hear from writers at risk defending #FreeExpression. This is an in-person event on July 1 at 1pm CET, co-sponsored by PEN International, the Permanent Mission of Estonia to the United Nations in Geneva, and the Permanent Mission of Poland to the United Nations in Geneva.