We present quick updates on several cartoonists we’ve written about in the last several months including past recipients of our annual Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award.
• Atena Farghadani was freed from Evin prison, Iran, just over a year ago. She is the subject of the latest episode in Amnesty International’s podcast series In Their Own Words. Listen to her account of her persecution on Amnesty’s site or use the embedded file below.
• The most complicated and distressing case CRNI has ever reported on has entered a new phase. As the scheduled closure of Manus Island Regional Processing Centre gathers pace, options narrow for Eaten Fish. We prepared a summary of his situation for Cartooning For Peace and inclusion in their exhaustive report on the current situation for cartoonists under threat around the world. Download their document in English or French.
• Musa Kart and his colleagues awaiting trial in Turkey have been joined by yet another staff member from the Cumhuriyet newspaper; the recent arrest of the paper’s online editor Oğuz Given was rapidly followed by detention warrants for over thirty people who simply commented on the last story he posted. Conditions for journalists and media workers continue to deteriorate in the country. We note the announced closure of Penguen magazine, a victim of President Erdoğan’s ire even before the 2016 coup attempt and the crackdown that followed. Musa has written about his friends at Penguen from jail, saying:
“My dear friends Bahadır Baruter, Erdil Yaşaroğlu, Selçuk Erdem and Metin Üstündağ had to end publishing the paper edition of the satirical magazine ‘Penguen’, they are very good humourists, they will continue their work via other platforms. No matter how much pressure is made on humour, it will keep on living, even in prisons. By the way, I humbly recommend to those of you who want to see humour on paper the Cumhuriyet indictment which is available in all book stores. Read it, you’ll laugh hard.”
• Arifur Rahman is unbowed by the attack two months ago on his exhibition in Norway. Recent profiles in The Indian Express and Times of India (below) attest to his dedication to the principle of Freedom of Expression.
• Mohammad Saba’aneh is touring the United States promoting his new book and in addition encouraging cartoonists to draw in solidarity with Palestinian hunger-strikers.
• Zunar continues to fight for his right to travel, seeking the release of his passport held since the end of last year. Despite being unable to join colleagues elsewhere, even as they exhibit his work, he remans in good spirits. His broader battle against charges of sedition moves incrementally toward the Malaysian Supreme Court. Zunar expects a trial date later this year and we will continue to monitor his situation closely.
My cartoons exhibition at Alte Feuerwache,Cologne
29 April.I cant go due to travel ban. Next on 17 May at University Bonn at Dei Academicus pic.twitter.com/MCMyRCL83B— Zunar Cartoonist (@zunarkartunis) May 10, 2017
