Caselist - PEN International

44and order, peace and tranquility’. Charged for his role in organizing theAll Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), a nationwide studentunion which opposed military rule and led to the 1988 uprising. Releasedunder amnesty on 19 November 2004 after fifteen years in prison. Rearrestedin late September 2006 with four other student leaders foractivities allegedly threatening ‘internal commotion, instability andterrorism’ and held until 11 January 2007 when he was released withoutcharge. Other information: As a student at the Rangoon Arts and ScienceUniversity he began writing poetry and was a member of a performancetroupe called ‘Goat-Mouth and Spirit Eye’ which performed satiricalplays and comic political sketches. This case was not initially taken up byPEN as he was not known to be a writer, PEN seeking further informationabout his poetry.ReleasedMAUNG Thura (aka’Zargana’): Leading comedian, poet andopposition activist. Arrested on 4 June 2008 and sentenced to 59 years inprison, reduced to 35 years, for leading a private relief effort to deliver aidto victims of Cyclone Nargis which struck on 2 May 2008, and for givinginterviews to overseas radio stations and other media. On 12 October2011, Zargana was freed as part of a widespread general amnesty.[Note: as referred to above, a major amnesty took place in early January2012, after the period covered by this report. Releases in January will beformally recorded in the January to June 2012 caselist.]NEPALDeath threat*Sushil POKHREL: Editor for the local weekly Hamro Ekta, based inPyuthan, western Nepal, received death treats on 24 October 2011. Thethreats were linked to an article published in the weekly about concernsover town planning in Pyuthan. According to the editor, two businesspeople involved in the construction field threatened to kill him becausethey feared the article could damage their business.*Gambhira SAHANI: Chief editor of the local daily Bypass, published inBirgunj, reported receiving a death threat from the Head Constable of thecentral regional police office in Hetauda, on 12 August 2011. The threat,made over the phone, is said to be linked with an article published inthe daily two days before, entitled ‘Mobile police file complaints againsttheir fellow workers in the Home Ministry and Police Headquarterswithout disclosing names’.Threatened*Narayan WAGLE: Editor-in-chief of the newspaper Negarik News, wasreportedly threatened with arrest by the chairman of the Youth AssociationNepal (YAN), sister organisation of the ruling party, on 13 August 2011.The newspaper has been investigating the attack of Khilanath Dhakal,one of Negarik News’s journalists, on 5 June 2011. The victim of theattack reported that members of the YAN carried the assault against him.*Santosh YADAV: Journalist for the daily Rajdhani, reported receiving athreat via his Facebook account on 8 August 2011. The threat is said tocome from the underground group Janatantrik Tarai Mukti Morcha, whoaccused the journalist of playing a role in the arrest of the group’s leader.*Narendra Nath YOGI: Editor-in-chief of the weekly Karnali, publishedin Jumla, western Nepal, reportedly received a threatening phone call on8 September 2011. The caller reportedly identified himself as the headof the Karnali Transport Bus Entrepreneurs’ Association. The threat waslinked to an article published on 7 September, regarding a complaintlogged with the police against some members of the Association.Attacked*Kishor BUDHATHOKI: Correspondent for the Annapurna Post andThe Himalayan Times, as well as Vice Secretary of the Federation ofNepali Journalist (FNJ), was reportedly attacked in Sankhuwasabha,eastern Nepal, on 11 August 2011. Four months latter, on 4 December2011, Budhathoki’s attackers were sentenced to five years in prison forthe attempted murder of the journalist.PAKISTANKilled*Muneer SHAKIR: Journalist for the Online News Network and a TVchannel, was reportedly shot dead in Baluchistan on 23 August 2011.Shakir, aged 43, was gunned down by unidentified men. Recently, he hadcovered a protest demonstration by a Baluch separatist group.*Faisal QURESHI: Editor of the political website London Post, wasfound dead at his home on the morning of 7 October 2011. His bodyreportedly showed signs of torture. The editor’s brother, Shahid Qureshi,who has also contributed for the same website, reported that he and hisbrother had lately received death threats. Recently, the London Post hadpublished reports on issues including accusations of corruption to highprofile politicians, and has run a story about the leader of the MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM) party who is allegedly living in self-imposedexile. There are suggestions that the threats received by the Qureshibrothers came from the MQM party.Death threats*Mohammad MALICK: Editor of the English-language daily TheNews. Reportedly received telephone death threats and was followed byunknown men in a car in the capital, Islamabad, from 21-23 November2011. He believes the people threatening and following him were fromthe intelligence agencies. The threats are believed to be linked to his articlescritical of Pakistan government policies.Brief detention*Rahmatullah DARPAKHEL (aka Rahmatullah DAWAR): Seniorreporter for the Urdu daily Ausaf. Reportedly kidnapped by an armedgroup in North Waziristan on 9 August 2011. The motive for his abductionis not clear, and he is said to have been cautious in his coverageof sensitive issues in the tribal agency, which is a centre for insurgentactivity. Held at an unknown location and released unconditionally on 13October 2011.PHILIPPINESKilling - investigation*Johnson PASCUAL: Editor-in-chief of the local newspaper PrimeNews, was shot dead in Isabela province, north-east of the Luzon island,on 7 October 2011. It has been reported that Pascual, aged 55, was shottwice by two men riding on a motorcycle while he was driving fromAlicia to Cauayan, Isabela province. After the shooting, the van he wasdriving reportedly fell into a ravine, causing Pascual’s death. The editorwas also a bank manager. His colleagues believe that his death was linkedto his reporting. The authorities are investigating the case.Imprisoned: investigation*Ericson ACOSTA: Activist, journalist and poet. Aged 37. On 13 February2011, Acosta was arrested by the military in San Jose, Samar, where hehad gone to conduct research into alleged human rights abuses. The militaryalleged he was an official of the once-banned Communist Party ofthe Philippines (CPP). Acosta said he was detained at a military campand subjected to 44 hours of interrogation with only two hours of sleep.He also said that interrogators threatened to kill him. On 16 February,the charge of illegal possession of explosives was filed against Acosta atthe Regional Trial Court Branch 41 in Gandara, Western Samar. UnderPhilippine law, this is a non-bailable offence. Acosta remains in custodypending action by the investigating prosecutor. In Philippine law, thetime limit from an arraignment to trial is set at 180 days by the SpeedyTrial Act (RA 8493). However, 180 days have already passed and theprosecutor has yet to file a formal complaint to the court. PEN learned ofthis case in October 2011. Acosta is thought to remain detained withouttrial as of 31 December 2011.On trialEdgardo MALIZA: Correspondent for the Mindanao-based newspaperGold Star Daily. Reportedly arrested on 4 March 2011 from his homeat Cagayan de Oro city on criminal defamation charges for allegedlymaligning former Department of Environment and Natural Resources(DENR) regional director Ernesto Adobo in two articles published inAzilam Review in 2009. The case was filed in March 2010 when Malizawas the editor of Azilam Review. The articles were published in July andSeptember 2009, and reported on the alleged failure of Adobo to takeaction on anomalous transactions in the DENR regional office. Malizawas released on bail of $230 in the same day. No further progress in hiscase as of 31 December 2011, Maliza remains free.SINGAPOREReleasedAlan SHADRAKE: British author. Sentenced to six weeks in prisonfor contempt of court on 18 November 2010 for allegedly ‘scandalisingthe judiciary’ in his book Once a Jolly Hangman – Singapore Justicein the Dock. The book is a critique of the use of capital punishment inSingapore, alleging double standards and a lack of impartiality. Shadrake,aged seventy-six, had been arrested on 18 July 2010 after arriving inSingapore to launch the book, and released on bail two days later pendingtrial. His sentence was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 27 May 2011,and an additional two weeks added to his sentence in lieu of a heavy fine.He was released on 9 July 2011 after serving five weeks of his sentence,and immediately deported to the UK. Other information: Recipient ofthe 2011 Hellman/Hammett award.SRI LANKADisappeared – motive unknownPregeeth EKANALIYAGODA: Political analyst, journalist and visualdesigner for the Lanka eNews, has been reported missing since 24 January2010, and his whereabouts remain unknown. He was last seen leavinghis office on the evening of 24 January 2010, and it is widely believedthat he was abducted by pro-government forces and subsequently killed.Government sources have denied the allegation. Ekanaliyagoda is aleading columnist, and reportedly published articles in favour of thedefeated opposition candidate General Sarath Fonseka ahead of the SriLankan presidential elections that took place on 26 January. The LankaeNews website was reportedly blocked during the elections, and itsoffices were searched by unidentified individuals on 28 January 2010.Previously, on 27 August 2009, Ekanaliyagoda had been abducted andheld blindfolded overnight, and was released after being told that he wasnot the correct target. Family and colleagues have expressed increasingconcern that the authorities have done very little to investigate PregeethEkanaliyagoda’s disappearance, and they fear for his safety. (RAN 09/10- 26 February 2010)Death threats*Frederica JANSZ (f): Editor of the Sunday Leader. Reportedlyreceived an anonymous hand-written threatening letter on 27 October2011 claiming to be from the ‘Sinha regiment’, in connection withthe ‘White Flag’ trial of former army commander General Fonseka, inwhich Ms Jansz was a key witness. The case is based on an interview theformer Army Commander Sarath Fonseka gave to Frederica Jansz on 8December 2009, in which he told her that Defense Secretary GotabhayaRajapaksa had given the order to kill three members of the Tamil Tigers(LTTE) who wanted to surrender at the end of war. She published thestory in the Sunday Leader on 13 December 2009 with the headline “Gotaordered those shot”. General Fonseka was convicted on 18 November2011 and sentenced to three years in prison. The Sinha regiment formerlycommanded by General Fonseka accuses Ms Jansz of providing falseevidence in his trial. She has been previously threatened in connectionwith the trial, and although she has reported the threats to the police shehas not been provided with any protection and there are serious concernsfor her safety.Attacked*Gnanasundaram KUHANATHAN: News editor of the Tamil dailyUthayan. Reportedly attacked by two unidentified men on the eveningof 29 July 2011. Kuhnathan, aged 59, was left critically injured in a sidestreet and was found by passers-by who took him to hospital. The motivefor the attack is unknown and there has been no investigation.Threatened*Lal WICKREMATUNGE: Chairman of The Sunday Leader newspaper,was reportedly threatened by the Sri Lankan president on 19 July2011. The telephone call came after the newspaper published an articlereporting that the Chinese government had given a sum of money to theSri Lankan president and his son, who is a member of parliament, thatthey could use at ‘their discretion’. Also, threatening messages appearedon the walls of The Sunday Leader headquarters. Lal Wickrematunge isthe brother of the late Lasantha Wickrematunge, the previous head of thenewspaper, who was murdered in January 2009.THAILANDImprisoned – Main case*Joe GORDONProfession: Blogger and salesman. Date of arrest: 26 May 2011Sentence: Two and a half years in prison Expires: 25 November 2013Details of the arrest: Gordon was arrested by the Department of SpecialInvestigation (DSI) during a visit to Thailand in May 2011. He is said tobe charged with lèse-majesté for being the owner of a website in whichthe book The King Never Smiles, by Paul Handley, is available for down- 45