Updates on 2004 Holiday Card Action

Holiday Card Action 2005

BELARUS – Yury Bandazhevsky: © IREX/ProMEDIA
Yury Bandazhevsky was conditionally released from prison on August 5, 2005, after serving four years of an eight-year sentence. AIUSA had campaigned intensively on his behalf through its Special Focus Case project and other networks.
"I would like to send a huge thank you to all Amnesty International members across the world whose support I could feel," Dr. Bandazhevsky said after his release. "The work of Amnesty International is very useful."

INDONESIA – Ignatius Mahendra Wardhana and Yoyok Eko Widodo: © Private
Ignatius Mahendra Wardhana (photo right) and Yoyok Eko Widodo were released on August 17 and July 26, 2005, respectively. Both young men had been sentenced for insulting the President and Vice-President in 2003 for their role in a demonstration protesting government policies.

SYRIA – 'Abdel Rahman al-Shaghouri: © Private
‘Abdel Rahman al-Shaghouri was released on August 31, 2005, one week after the end of his sentence. He has returned home to his family and is said to be in good health.

USA – Camilo Mejía Castillo: Camilo Mejía Castillo, a U.S. National Guardsman jailed for refusing to return to service in Iraq for reasons of conscience, was released from prison on February 15, 2005, before the completion of his one-year sentence. Following his release, he wrote the following note to Amnesty International:
"I want to thank all the people and all the organizations who have supported my family and me throughout this most difficult time in our lives. I am now free from prison, but it was because of all of you that I remained a free man during my incarceration. I was not able to read all the mail that was sent, in part because prison rules did not allow it, and in part because I received thousands upon thousands of letters from all over the world. In time I will read all of them, and I will answer as many as I can. From the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of my family, my attorneys, and myself, thank you all."

ZIMBABWE – Women of Zimbabwe Arise! (WOZA): © Private
Jenni Williams of WOZA told Amnesty:
"I am alive today because the international community, through Amnesty International, through the media, have heard about our work. Amnesty International helped us to amplify our voice, and they gave us incredible protection. When we're there in the police cells, and we know that someone has got the message saying we're arrested, we know that something is happening."