Writers Behind Bars

Ege Dündar is a Turkish writer and activist, serving as PEN International’s youngest board member. He works to support writers at risk and leads initiatives with peers from 58 countries to develop the Young Writers Committee and Tomorrow Club, amplifying brave young voices worldwide. His debut book, All These Things Aren't Really Lost, was featured in Best New British and Irish Poets 2019–2021. He has also worked as a researcher on exile media in Europe and artistic freedom. His fable Duvar (The Wall) was co-written with his father, Can Dündar — a journalist who was unlawfully arrested in Turkey. After facing an armed assault and the illegal confiscation of their assets and passports, the family was forced to leave the country.

Ege Dündar adalah penulis dan aktivis asal Turki yang saat ini menjabat sebagai anggota dewan termuda di PEN International. Ia bekerja untuk mendukung para penulis yang berada dalam situasi berisiko, serta menggerakkan berbagai inisiatif bersama rekan-rekannya dari 58 negara untuk mengembangkan Komite Penulis Muda dan Tomorrow Club, yang bertujuan mengangkat suara-suara muda pemberani dari seluruh dunia. Buku debutnya, All These Things Aren't Really Lost, masuk dalam daftar Best New British and Irish Poets 2019–2021. Ia juga pernah bekerja sebagai peneliti media pengasingan di Eropa dan kebebasan artistik. Fabelnya yang berjudul Duvar (The Wall) ditulis bersama ayahnya, Can Dündar, seorang jurnalis yang ditangkap secara tidak sah di Turki. Setelah menghadapi serangan bersenjata serta penyitaan ilegal atas aset dan paspor mereka, keluarganya terpaksa meninggalkan negara tersebut.

Ma Thida is a Myanmar medical doctor, writer, and human rights activist. She has been awarded several international human rights honors, including Vaclav Havel’s Disturbing the Peace and Courageous Writer at Risk Awards in 2016. She has published more than 25 books in the Myanmar language, including short stories, novels, and essays, as well as three books in English: The Roadmap, Prisoner of Conscience: My Steps through Insein, and A-Maze: Myanmar's Struggle for Democracy 2011-2023. She was the very first elected president of PEN Myanmar from 2013 to 2016, a board member of PEN International in 2016 and 2019, and has served as chair of the Writers in Prison Committee since 2021. She is currently a Writer-in-Exile program fellow with PEN Germany.

Ma Thida adalah seorang dokter, penulis, dan aktivis hak asasi manusia asal Myanmar. Ia telah menerima berbagai penghargaan internasional di bidang hak asasi manusia, di antaranya Disturbing the Peace Award dari Vaclav Havel dan Courageous Writer at Risk Award pada tahun 2016. Ia telah menerbitkan lebih dari 25 buku dalam bahasa Myanmar, termasuk kumpulan cerita pendek, novel, dan esai, serta tiga buku dalam bahasa Inggris: The Roadmap, Prisoner of Conscience: My Steps through Insein, dan A-Maze: Myanmar's Struggle for Democracy 2011–2023. Ma Thida merupakan presiden pertama yang terpilih secara demokratis untuk memimpin PEN Myanmar dan menjabat dari 2013 hingga 2016. Ia juga pernah menjadi anggota dewan PEN International pada 2016 dan 2019, serta menjabat sebagai ketua Writers in Prison Committee sejak 2021. Saat ini, ia menjadi fellow dalam program Writer-in-Exile yang diselenggarakan oleh PEN Jerman.

Professor Peter Greste is an Australian award-winning broadcast journalist, academic, media freedom activist, and author. Before becoming an academic in 2018, he spent 25 years as a foreign correspondent, mostly for the BBC and Al Jazeera. He began his career covering the civil war in Yugoslavia and elections in South Africa as a freelance reporter in the early ’90s. In 1995, he joined the BBC as its Afghanistan correspondent and went on to cover Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. In 2011, he won a Peabody Award for a BBC documentary on Somalia. Later that year, he moved to Al Jazeera as its East Africa correspondent. In December 2013, while on a short assignment in Egypt, he was arrested on terrorism charges. After a widely criticized trial, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. During his 400-day imprisonment, he wrote letters defending press freedom, sparking a campaign that led to his release the following February. To honour his advocacy, he has won numerous domestic and international awards, including a Walkley for a lifetime contribution to journalism, Australia’s highest accolade for journalists; the British Royal Television Society’s Judges Award; and the Tribeca Disruptive Innovator’s Award, all in 2015. He has also received the International Association of Press Clubs’ Freedom of Speech Award, the Australian Human Rights Commission Medal, and the Australian Press Council’s 2018 Press Freedom Award. Peter has written about his experiences in The First Casualty, published in 2017 and now in production as a feature film. He remains an avid advocate of media freedom and journalist safety.

Profesor Peter Greste adalah jurnalis penyiaran asal Australia peraih berbagai penghargaan, akademisi, aktivis kebebasan media, dan penulis. Sebelum menjadi akademisi pada 2018, ia menghabiskan 25 tahun sebagai koresponden luar negeri, sebagian besar untuk BBC dan Al Jazeera. Kariernya dimulai dengan meliput perang saudara di Yugoslavia dan pemilihan umum di Afrika Selatan sebagai jurnalis lepas pada awal 1990-an. Pada 1995, ia bergabung dengan BBC sebagai koresponden untuk Afghanistan, kemudian meliput Amerika Latin, Timur Tengah, dan Afrika. Pada 2011, ia memenangkan Peabody Award untuk sebuah dokumenter BBC tentang Somalia. Tak lama kemudian, ia pindah ke Al Jazeera sebagai koresponden Afrika Timur. Pada Desember 2013, saat sedang menjalankan tugas singkat di Mesir, ia ditangkap dengan tuduhan terorisme. Setelah melalui persidangan yang menuai banyak kritik, ia dijatuhi hukuman penjara tujuh tahun. Selama 400 hari dipenjara, ia menulis surat yang membela kebebasan pers, memicu kampanye yang berujung pada pembebasannya pada Februari tahun berikutnya. Sebagai penghargaan atas advokasinya, ia telah menerima berbagai penghargaan nasional dan internasional, termasuk Walkley Award untuk kontribusi seumur hidup dalam jurnalisme, penghargaan tertinggi bagi jurnalis di Australia; British Royal Television Society’s Judges Award; dan Tribeca Disruptive Innovator’s Award, semuanya pada 2015. Ia juga menerima International Association of Press Clubs’ Freedom of Speech Award, Medali Australian Human Rights Commission, dan Australian Press Council’s Press Freedom Award pada 2018. Peter menulis tentang pengalamannya dalam buku The First Casualty, yang diterbitkan pada 2017 dan kini sedang diproduksi menjadi film panjang. Ia tetap menjadi pendukung setia kebebasan media dan keselamatan jurnalis.