This Sunday, May 3rd, is World Press Freedom Day and you can help push back against governments worldwide who violate fundamental rights to free speech and expression. Some of the journalists currently languishing in detention include:
- Iranian-American journalist, Roxana Saberi, who was sentenced last week to eight years in prison on charges of espionage after a flawed trial.
- Gambian journalist Ebrima Manneh who continues to be detained despite a court’s ruling in June 2008 that his rights had been violated by the Gambian government and should be released.
- Sri Lankan writer J.S. Tissainayagam who was imprisoned in 2008 for writing two articles that criticized the government’s military offensive against the opposition group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Here in the U.S. we often take for granted our ability to speak out against the policies of our government. The type of content on this blog alone would surely be censored in some countries and could even land writers in prison. We hope you’ll join us this weekend in taking action to protect journalists worldwide!