Pen International

More than 1,000 writers from around the world, including Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, have expressed solidarity for the people of Ukraine enduring "their darkest hours."

Ljubljana – A group of 19 NGOs and associations advocating media and human rights urged the EU on Tuesday to “take decisive action to protect independent journalism” in Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. The call comes a day before a debate on threats to media freedom in the three countries to be held at the European Parliament.

The European Federation of Journalists, European Centre for Press & Media Freedom, PEN International and Reporters Without Borders criticised on Wednesday new restrictive laws on online media in Albania.

The laws were proposed by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama as part of his drive against "defamation".

Turkish authorities have returned novelist Aslı Erdoğan's passport and she is expected to travel to Europe soon, more than two months after her travel ban was lifted, her lawyer said on Sept. 8.

Erdoğan, one of the country's leading contemporary novelists, was given her passport on Sept. 7, her lawyer Erdal Doğan told AFP.

In the latest episode in the diplomatic skirmish between Germany and Turkey, the police in Spain, acting on a request from the Turkish authorities, have arrested a Turkish-German writer on vacation in Spain.

A huge delegation from PEN International, an international association working for writers, came to Turkey on Jan. 28 to visit Istanbul's Silivri jail, where around 135 writers and journalists are behind bars, but were prevented from doing so by authorities.