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
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