Deyda Hydara Honored by PEN

PEN American Center (New York)
PRESS RELEASE
April 21, 2005
Posted to the web April 22, 2005
New York

New York ceremony, presided over by PEN President Salman Rushdie, adds to
international pressure for full investigation, prosecutions

PEN American Center, the largest center of the international literary
organization dedicated to defending freedom of expression around the
globe, awarded slain Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara one of two 2005
PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards last night in a ceremony in
New York's American Museum of Natural History.

Thirty-seven writers and journalists have received the award since it was
established in 1987, but Mr. Hydara is the first to receive the honor
poshumously. Historian and award sponsor Ms. Goldsmith underscored the
importance of this unprecedented honor in a NBC news video announcing the
award, saying that it reflected PEN's growing alarm over the unpunished
murders of journalists around the world and concern for the deterioration
of press freedom in the Gambia, as well as the organization's great
respect for Mr. Hydara, a leading champion of freedom of expression in
that country.

Two of Deyda Hydara's children were present to receive the award on behalf
of the family, Marie Hydara, who currently lives in the U.K., and Ismaila
Hydara, who lives in Baltimore, USA. In an emotional presentation
following the introductory videos, Marie Hydara offered the following
statement:

"On behalf of my mum, sister, and brothers, I would like to extend our
utmost gratitude to Pen AMERICAN CENTER for honouring this brave man we
were blessed to have called our Dad. This award is dedicated to all
journalists and writers past and present who have struggled, and those who
are still struggling to be heard. Long live free expression, long live
freedom to write and long live press freedom. To dad, we miss and love you
so very much and we are so very proud of you. Rest in perfect peace".

The award was presented at PEN American Center's annual Gala, a dinner
that brings together many of America's leading writers to attract national
and international attention to PEN's work, and to domestic and
international threats to Freedom of Expression. Speakers included Brian
Williams and Tina Brown from NBC news and PEN president Salman Rushdie.
Toni Morrison, E.L. Doctorow, Paul Auster, Grace Paley, K. Anthony Appiah,
Philip Gourevitch, Erica Jong, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and more than 50
other prominent American authors were joined by major international
literary figures including Margaret Atwood, Breyten Breytenbach, Hanif
Kureishi, Nuruddin Farah, and Kader Abdolah, some of the 85 international
writers gathered in New York this week for the PEN World Voices
international literary festival.

In addition to Deyda Hydara, PEN conferred a 2005 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith
Freedom to Write Award on jailed Saudi poet and novelist Ali Al-Domaini.
The PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Awards honor international writers who have
fought courageously in the face of adversity for the right to freedom of
expression. PEN also presented the 2005 Jeri Laber International Freedom
to Publish award to Abdullah Keskin, a Turkish publisher who for years has
defied government restrictions, particularly on publishing books in
Kurdish, in that country. The evening's other honoree, Joan Airoldi,
received the 2005 PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award for refusing to
comply with an FBI request to learn the names of all the patrons at a
library in rural Washington state who had checked out a biography of Osama
Bin Laden. The prestigious award recognizes a U.S. citizen or resident who
fought courageously, despite adversity, to safeguard the First Amendment
right to freedom of expression as it applies to the written word.

After the ceremony, PEN Freedom to Write Program Director Larry Siems
emphasized that the evening's awards marked the beginning, and not the
end, of PEN's advocacy on behalf of their recipients. "These awards serve
an important purpose," Siems said. "They help focus national and
international press attention on people and on issues that PEN is working
on day in and day out. In the case of the murder of Deyda Hydara, PEN has
been calling for a full investigation leading to the conviction of all
those behind this terrible crime, from the triggerman to the intellectual
author. It has also been seeking a repeal of repressive media laws and
greater protections for independent journalists in the Gambia. Many of
Deyda Hydara's colleagues - including Alagi Yorro Jallow, who was with us
at tonight's event - have also endured violence, threats, and persecution.
We will continue the press for full and final justice for Deyda Hydara,
and for a free and open press in the Gambia, using this award to amplify
PEN's concerns in the U.S. and around the world."


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Copyright © 2005 PEN American Center. All rights reserved. Distributed by
AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
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