180 writers demand proof of life for Eritrean journalists missing 25 years
Nobel laureates Olga Tokarczuk and J.M. Coetzee head a list of signatories calling on Eritrea's president to account for twelve writers detained since a 2001 crackdown.
More than 180 writers have signed an open letter to Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki demanding proof of life for twelve writers and journalists arrested in September 2001, according to the Guardian. The letter is dated 18 September, marking twenty-five years since the government crackdown that swept up the country's independent press.
"Within days, Eritrea's free press and the nation's independent voices were systematically crushed," the letter states, as quoted by the Guardian. The twelve writers named in the letter have been held incommunicado since the arrests, with no confirmation from authorities of their condition or whereabouts.
Nobel laureates Olga Tokarczuk and J.M. Coetzee lead the list of signatories, joined by Colm Tóibín, Elif Shafak, Isabel Allende, Ben Okri, Yann Martel, Kamila Shamsie and Tsitsi Dangarembga, the Guardian reports.
Sources
This article was written from these reports.
