To Prime minister Erdogan, Turkey:

Your Excellency,

We who have signed this letter wish to express our strong opposition to the detention without trial of the writer and lawyer Muharrem Erbey, who was arrested on December 26, 2009.

Erbey is a long-time member of PEN and has, as a lawyer, been recognised as a strong advocate for human rights. We find it very disturbing that the charges against Mr Erbey are founded on a very weak basis. We likewise find it disturbing, from an international point of view, that one of the main charges against Mr Erbey is that he, as an invited guest, has been giving speeches in several national parliaments, among them the Swedish Riksdag. This is being held against him as a criminal act.

To prosecute a writer and human rights lawyer for engaging in a free exchange of views and thoughts with European MPs is against the UN Declaration of Human Rights and against the idea of a democratic society in general.

We urge you to secure the immediate release of Mr Muharrem Erbey and to ensure that he is allowed to resume his work as a free writer and human rights lawyer.

Sincerely yours,

Ghayath Almadhoun, poet

Nasim Aghili, director

Faraj Bayrakdar, poet

Moa-Lisa Björk, translator

Mustafa Can, writer

Firat Ceweri, writer, member of the board of swedish PEN

Peter Curman, poet

Haideh Daragahi, litteraturvetare

Dilsa Demirbag-Sten, writer

Mehrdad Darvishpour, Ph D of sociology

Liljana Dufgran, writer

Kerstin Ekman, writer

Maria Ekman, translator

Oskar Ekström, project leader, Shahrazad

Torbjörn Elensky, writer

Peter Englund, writer, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy

Kjell Espmark, writer, member of the Swedish Academy

Marco Espvall, writer

Ahmad Eskandari, writer

Carl Etzler, writer

Lars Grahn, publisher

Lars Gustafsson, writer

Azadeh Rojhan Gustafsson, politician

Lennart Hagerfors, writer

Hanna Hallgren, poet and critic

Lars Hjalmarson, publisher, member of the board of swedish PEN

Kristina Hultman, writer and journalist

sholeh Irani, writer

Dan Israel, publisher

Taher Jambarsang, journalist

P.C. Jersild, writer

Ann Jäderlund, poet

Lena Kallenberg, writer

Martin Kaunitz, publisher, member of the board of swedish PEN

Amineh Kakabaveh, swedish member of parliament

Ulla Keyling, writer

Agneta Klingspor, writer

Ulrika Knutson, journalist, president of Swedish Publicist club

Helga Krook, poet

Murat Kuseyri, journalist

Ola Larsmo, writer, president of swedish PEN

Torgny Lindgren, writer, member of the Swedish Academy

Sven Lindqvist, writer

Inga-Lina Lindqvist, writer

Björn Linnell, publisher

Mikael Löfgren, writer

Azar Mahloujian, writer, member of the board of swedish PEN

Bodil Malmsten, writer

Henning Mankell writer

Jonas Modig, writer

Maria Modig, writer

Robab Moheb, poet

Peter Mosskin, writer

Suzanne Nessim, artist

Meta Ottosson, translator

Agneta Pleijel, writer

Mattias Pleijel, journalist

Faramarz Pooya, writer

Gun Qvarzell, editor

Annina Rabe, literary critic

Gail Ramsay, professor of arabic

Ingrid Rasch, producer

Sohrab Rahimi, poet, translator

Anisur Rahman, ICORN writer in residence

Mahshid Rasti, Human Right activist

Anneli Rogeman, editor, VI magazine

Arne Ruth, publicist

Linda Schenck, translator

Eugene Schoulgin, writer

Boel Schenlaer, poet

Hossein Sheiban, lecturer, Stockholm Universitet

Ardalan Shekarabi, lawyer and member of Parliament

Helena Sigander, writer

Göran Sonnevi, poet

Jan Henrik Swahn , writer

Anne Swärd, writer

Monica Tranströmer

Tomas Tranströmer, poet

Marita Ulvskog, Member of EU parliament

Zozan Uzun

Birgitta Wallin, editor

Ola Wallin, publisher, , member of the board of swedish PEN

Siv Wideberg, writer

Maj-Britt Wiggh, writer

Per Wirtén, writer and journalist

Per Wästberg, writer, member of Swedish Academy

Nasser Yousefi, director and journalist

Monica Zak, writer

Naser Zeraati, writer

Jannike Åhlund, project leader

Birgitta Öhman, tv-producer, member of the board of Swedish PEN