Ayat Al-Gormezi - PEN Petition

The following is from the PEN Center USA's petition condemning Bahrain's treatment of poet Ayat Al-Gormezi (previously reported on in this blog as Ayat Al-Qarmezi). For more information, and to sign the petition, click here

The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International protests the one-year sentence handed down to poet and student Ayat Al-Gormezi on anti-state charges for poems critical of the Bahraini King. PEN calls for her immediate and unconditional release, and that of all those currently detained in Bahrain for the peaceful expression of their views, in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bahrain is a signatory.

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An excerpt of Ayat's poetry:

We do not like to live in a palace
And we are not after power
And we are not after power
We are the people who
Break down humiliation
And discard oppression
With peace as our tool
We are people who
Do not want others to be living in the Dark Ages
(Translated from the Arabic by Ghias Aljundi).

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Your names along with a letter of protest stating these appeals will be sent to the King of Bahrain and to the Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs. A copy will also be sent to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain (warning: music plays when site opens) in Washington, D.C.