Freedom of ewpression - PEN International

As a member of PEN-Flanders I repost here the point of view of PEN International which I do fully subscribe:

Egypt:  Al-Jazeera journalists must be released
23 June 2014

Harsh prison sentences handed down today to three Al-Jazeera (English) journalists must be overturned and the journalists freed immediately, PEN International said today.

Correspondent Peter Greste, and producers Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohammed were sentenced to seven, seven and ten years respectively on charges of having links to a “terrorist organisation” and “spreading false news”.

PEN International believes that their arrest and imprisonment is part of an escalating crackdown on dissent in Egypt, in which journalists, writers, civil rights activists, and independent or critical voices are amongst those targeted for their reporting or peaceful activism.

“These sentences signal a death knell for freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary in Egypt” said Marian Botsford Fraser, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.

“The international community must respond swiftly, not only on behalf of foreign journalists, but on behalf of the citizens of Egypt, for whom democracy is in grave danger.”

Al Jazeera correspondent Peter Greste, an Australian national, Mohammed Fahmy, who has dual Canadian and Egyptian nationality, and Egyptian national Baher Mohamed were arrested on 29 December 2013 following Interior Ministry accusations of illegally broadcasting from a hotel suite.

Peter Greste, who has worked for the BBC, is accused of collaborating with “terrorists” by talking to Muslim Brotherhood members. Al-Jazeera Cairo bureau chief Mohammed Fahmy and producer Baher Mohamed are accused of the more serious offence of membership of the Brotherhood.

Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based TV channel, has said the men were merely reporting the situation in Egypt. Since 25 December 2013 the Egyptian authorities have labelled the Muslim Brotherhood – the political group that the Al-Jazeera journalists are accused of supporting - as a terrorist group.

According to diplomats and rights campaigners who observed the trial, no credible evidence was put forward to support the verdict. The three journalists are planning to appeal their convictions.

PEN calls on Egypt’s interim government to immediately and unconditionally release all those held solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression, in accordance with the international treaties to which it is bound.

For further information please contact Cathy McCann at PEN International Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: cathy.mccann@pen-international.org

The new system ransacked

Five o'clock  the new speaker phone system worked and looked good. About five hours later a troubled young, swanky oriental man walked from the Harmony Park kicking at cars, breaking windows, making serious dents, screaming. People called the police and by the time he arrived at our front door at least four calls had gone out to the police. Thus at a certain point four police cars were in front of the building. The one which arrived first just happened to drive by and saw that something was seriously wrong. The heavy glass pane at the entrance was kicked at and the new speaker phone system was demolished in a frenzy. I don't know what addled the young man, nor what troubles he had. The neighbors recuperated as many of the parts that were laying around as possible. I realized that these police vans go through a lot of wear and tear since the people they transport are often in an 'acting out' phase. The police never got violent, nor aggressive with the young man, so it was a job well done. I hope he'll be all right after sleeping off what ever it was...

Kathe Kollwitz and her contemporary artists

 Jan is architect and my preferred partner to visit exhibitions. He doesn't only look at the objects shown but notices the relationships of the objects to their environment and comments on how they are placed. The statues on the black pedestals are by Kollwitz, those on the natural wood are by 19 contemporaries some working in different styles. Avant-garde as in the work of Jean Arp, piètas as the one by Ivan Mestovic' a sculptor whose work I have admired because of the large Prophet - preacher in Split in Croatia, Emiel Jespers, Zadkine....

 Kathe Kollwitz's son fell in Flanders fields on the first day of World War I. She then created the statue 'The grieving parents'. And spoke out against war and violence. Many of the pieces shown at the Bream Pavilion in the Middelheim museum in Antwerp are militant. The artists show us that war brings suffering, that it is filled with mass and personal  suffering. This composition of artists and work shown is a true pacifist statement.  I find the small statue with women and children wave at husbands and fathers who are going to war very moving. The women had to keep the family together, feed the children, work and make money... They also lost their jobs after the war because work was for returning soldiers in all war torn countries. I love the light in this pavilion. The war in sculptures is to me deeply moving and a fitting reminder to work for peace. Some sculptors created work in the trenches with the material the enemy fired at them applying all their craft to turn battle field objects into civilian objects. Another great exhibit at the Middelheim museum.

The poet of Place St Rémy De geest

 Behind the white rosebush a great poet Karel Sergen lives. He invited me over to go through a translation of Enoh Meymesse who has been in jail in the Kondengui jail near Yaoundé. Translating  writers who are in prison helps spread their name and their fame and thus protects them.

                                                                                                                                                          The small village is wonderful. the houses are mostly in the local stone and one feels protected, sheltered in them. Sometimes there are big gates and pretty vistas. The donkey called me so I cuddled him and rubbed his soft nose.We worked hard. Every word was weighed and scrutinized. I am sure that after we finished the second half of the correction, the book will be interesting reading. It will  give insight about the hardships of life in the worst Cameroonian jail one can imagine. At the end of the day we made a long walk through the spring field, smelling the different trees, enjoying the vistas. What a great day. Gratitude is in order. On June 27 his city poem will be mounted on the supporting wall around the church in Dutch and French. This way activism becomes its own reward.

Strauss Happening in the Singel in Antwerp

Richard Strauss evolved from a decadent modernist at the end of of the nineteenth century to melodic walser melodies and bittersweet opera's like "der Rosenkavalier", a comedy about life and customs in Vienna. He was a German nationalist loving the German culture, yet abhorred the barbarians of the fascist regime under Hitler. The day started out with the "Filharmonie"  performing "Ein Heldenleben". But let me start at the real beginning: The first violin enters the stage and bows, then the others filter in and the tuning begins: fine tuning, listening in the wondrous chaos of sound to one's own instrument and hearing the sound you are looking for.

 The ritual has to be performed: The conductor comes, shakes hands with the first violin and greets the second violin. Silence, serenity and goose bumps when the whole orchestra in harmony resounds.  Ein Heldenleben: I am naive in music, know nothing yet I am floored, touched, moved, fascinated, feel the vibrations of this large orchestra in my body and bones, feel anger at the military tones and am moved to tears. The instruments are flutes, clarinets, hobos, horns saxophones, wood flute, cello, in the percussion section drums and other kinds of instruments... After that I had to go out be outside and let it all sink in. The day want on as grandiose as it started. the Fauré Quartet was a it more lighthearted and The Arabian dance made me smile. They Quartet was followed after a break by soprano Elizabeth Watts and Roger Vignoles at the piano. I like her attitude, the  kind of irreverence going a along with great voice technique. Then there was a male choir and after that a mixed choir. The songs were irreverent, fun, playful things. And the day ended around 10 pm after having seen a silent movie from 1926 about der Rosenkavalier while the orchestra performed the whole opera... What a day... only possible thanks to the collaborative effort of deSingel, deFilharmonie and the Royal Conservatorium Antwerpen, AP Hogeschool.

Conceptional artist Roland Van den Berghe

 I was surprised when I was contacted by Roland Van den Berghe, friend of Annie Reniers. She had shown him one of my poetry books Traces/Sporen. He found there a poem that intrigued him since it had a clear volta. Having listened to the man and his wild ideas I realize his deep seated pacifism, his true interest in Vietnam and condemning the ugliness which went on there.

The first song I knew

was

    my daddy is over the ocean

and of course

I thought every American

was my father

Later

I was to blame for the Vietnam war

belonging

where I didn’t belong

Now I hear your voice

      You charmer sweet talker

Too much dying had gone on

to settle down

        when the screams and fire

still pierced your dreams

when you freed my mother from her enemy

and waged a sweet war with her

So GI

later

      - so much later now -

your acceptance

has liberated me

     

belonging where I do belong

Roland is a conceptual artist and when he showed and explained some projects he had done to me I developed a new understanding of conceptual art. I realize the amount of thought and thorough preparation it involves. He was intrigued by the moment the poem changes. I also realize that the pacifist message from the poem would resonate in him since he has done many pacifist actions through his work. Roland, to say the least is well read and has traveled a lot and was interested in Vietnam where he left crutches behind in several locations, taking a picture of it every time.

The sky of imagination: sixty letters about art

Last night in the gorgeous Bourla theater in Antwerp there was a book presentation with the Dutch title De hemel van de verbeelding, Zestig brieven over kunst. My daughter Maya is one of the sixty writers. Since we have an Flemish, National and European election next Sunday, at the occasion of the book presentation five specialists and politicians for every party had been invited for a lively discussion. I wasn't too enchanted by the moderator in guiding the conversation.

I have been reading the book and am impressed by the knowledge, the depth of feeling, the wisdom, the humanity of certain letters. from very personal to writing about the structure of the cultural field, the role of administration for certain artists or facilitators of art. The two speakers who impressed me most were Bleri Lleshi pleading for more cultural openness and world music and Peter Swinnen the "bouwmeester" responsible for planning of the Belgium visual of cities. The politicians, well were politicians, yet some were smarter than others in defending culture. I am glad my daughter gave me the opportunity to be present at the event.