The Uruguay PEN Center adheres as a signatory to two statements by International PEN that condemn the detention of the Chinese writer and journalist, Dong Yuyu , and the Iranian writer and poet, Mahvash Sabet.
Yuyu was imprisoned on “espionage” charges. The writer maintained links with diplomats, foreign academics and journalists, which prompted the Chinese authorities to keep him under surveillance for months until the day of his arrest on February 21, 2022.
The second statement condemns the arrest and brutal torture perpetrated, in an interrogation in August 2022, against the Iranian writer and poet Mahvash Sabet. The blows caused himthe fracture of both of his kneecaps, for which all the signatories express being “gravely concerned for the health and well-being of Mahvash Sabet ”. The poet was arrested on July 31, 2022 and sentenced, for the second time, to 10 years in prison for professing the Bahá’í faith. During his first prison he wrote his book «Prison Poems».
Next, we share the links to read each statement: