Tuesday, July 29, 2008

News at Eleven: Some of this year's recipients have asked to remain anonymous

because of possible continuing danger to them and their families. Among those are three Iraqi writers and one from Cameroon, China, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

Short biographies of those who can be safely publicized follow:

Kamram Mir Hazar (Afghanistan), 32, poet, essayist, journalist and blogger, was picked up outside the Kabul office of Internews Network on July 4, 2007 and held in incommunicado detention for five days under conditions that he likened to Guantanamo. After his release, he was kept under surveillance. He and his wife, Zahra, began living at the Internews offices to ensure their safety. He was taken into custody again in August 2007, and was questioned and released the same day. In fear of further harassment, Mir Hazar fled to India and applied for resettlement through the UN High Commission for Refugees. He now lives in Jessheim, Norway.

[Also mentioned poets Sakit Zahidov (Azerbaijan), Ricardo González Alfonso (Cuba), Saroop Dhruv (India), Nguan Xuan Nghia (Vietnam), and Nguyen Xuan Tu (Vietnam)]

from Media for Freedom: Banned, Censored, Harassed and Jailed

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