In a first court hearing against the Turkish translator and publisher of Burroughs´ "The Soft Machine" this morning (Oct. 11.), the prosecuter would not accept that the case was about literature, reports Anders Heger from Istanbul.  Turkish court claims that the translation of a book, published freely 50 years ago, is not about literature, but about obscenities and refuses the defenders´ use of literary experts during the trial.  However, the court reserves the right to use their own "literary experts".

Free expression defenders are celebrating last Thursday's (29th September) decision by a military court to drop charges against a Tunisian policeman who blew the whistle on a still-active core of officers from the country's pre-revolution days - some of them alleged torturers, others linked to Tunisia's long notorious internet surveillance squads.

The assembly of delegates passed 19 resolutions regarding the lack of freedom of expression in a number of countries, as well as new tendencies of rasism in the EU and lack of freedom to travel for some non-EU citizens.  Mexico, Syria, Eritrea and China are among the countries with the most and most severe harassement.

Norwegian PEN president, Anders Heger, was driving close to the government quarters when the bomb exploded.  Read his personal letter to his friend and colleague Larry Siems, written three days after the Oslo/Utøya massacre.

We thank you all for the flow of sympathy, solidarity and warm regards that has come to the office and to each of us during the last days.

38 organizations from 16 countries have sent a letter to the Belarusian authorities condemning the continuing repressions against civil society in Belarus. Since 15 June 2011, at least 1730 people have been arrested during the peaceful demonstrations in the country.

Mexican writer and journalist Lydia Cacho, one of the keynote speakers at the opening of the Global Forum on Freedon of Expression in Oslo in June 2009, has received anonymous death threats by phone and email.  Cacho believes that the threats, which made direct reference to her journalism, stem from her naming of alleged sex traffickers in her writings.