6. January 2013

There have been some welcome developments in the case of the imprisoned Kazakh poet, Aron Atabek.

As some of you will already know, in late 2013, Atabek was removed from solitary confinement (where he had been sent for writing a book that criticised the president) and placed in a maximum security prison in Karazhal. In December 2013 it was confirmed by the poet’s lawyer that he would be transferred to a minimum security jail closer to his family in Almaty.

Also in December, Atabek’s son, Askar, was allowed to visit his father in jail for the first time in two years. Askar told PEN that his father looked ‘ok’ and that they had talked about letters that he had received from PEN members.

PEN was the only organisation campaigning specifically for Atabek to be removed from solitary confinement and transferred to a prison within visiting distance of his family:

‘.((strlen(‘http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/call-to-action-kazakh-poet-aron-atabek-a-prison-within-a-prison/’)>40) ? substr(‘http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/call-to-action-kazakh-poet-aron-atabek-a-prison-within-a-prison/’,0,40).’…’ : ‘http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/call-to-action-kazakh-poet-aron-atabek-a-prison-within-a-prison/’).’‘

Warmest thanks to all who campaigned on Atabek’s behalf:

PEN American Center
PEN Austria
Belgian Dutch-Speaking PEN
PEN Canada
Czech PEN
Danish PEN
English PEN
PEN Flanders
German PEN
German Speaking PEN Abroad
PEN Kenya
PEN Netherlands
San Miguel Allende PEN
PEN Suisse Romand
Sydney PEN
PEN Center USA

We will continue to investigate the charges on which Atabek was convicted