Passaporta

The Passa Porta literature festival is still ongoing in Brussels. The Writers in Prison Committee Flanders and the Writers for Peace performed to remember their colleagues who live in less tolerant regimes.



Dejan Anastasijevic is a journalist from Serbia and knows that there is no longer a free press.

Kamran Mir Hazar is an Afghan blogger who got into real trouble by speaking out about the corruption in Barzai's government.




Faraj Bayrakdar from Syria had a long time ago written a poem and the words 'bread' and 'flower' were used in that text. Two different secret services wanted him to explain what he meant (imagine a secret service knowing the meaning of a metaphor!)
He spend many years in jail and now lives in exile. So does Chenjerai Hove from Zimbabwe. Both poets spoke their poetry beautifully.

Here you see Hilde Keteleer, president of the WIPC Flanders listening to Marleen Decree reading the Dutch translation of a poem by Faraj.
I reminded the world of the plight of Leonard Peltier and added: Further more I am of the opinion that the Nato had to be abolished...