Can't find any very recent details on Talisma Nasrin's trial. But Lacy's
call may be based on very very recent info: I talked to him in Paris 10
days ago & he didn't meantion TN. But here's some background material on
her. More can be found on the internet. Steve Lacy is quite right: her
life is in danger. She is a Bangladeshi writer who run afoul of her
country's gvt when she published a novel -- Shame -- that was found to
be an assault on the poltical & religious "values" of Bangladesh. (What
Rusdie did in relation to pakistan & India -- except that she, as a
woman, drew even more intense hate, if that is possible). She escaped to
Europe some years ago, but I don't know if she returned or is still in
exile.

Pierre


Here is a letter from 1997 from the PEN Club, which will explain some
details. Followed by a piece by TN herself:


            January 7, 1997

            Prime Minister Shuikh Hasina
            Fax: 880 2 811015

            Minister of Home Affairs Gen Rafiqui Islam
            Fax: 880 2 836213

            Your Excellencies:

            On behalf of the 2800 writers who are members of PEN
American Center, we write to
            express concern about the ongoing prosecution of PEN
Honorary Member Taslima
            Nasrin, author of the banned novel Lajja and the target of
death threats by Muslim
            militants.

            Ms. Nasrin went into hiding after chief Metropolitan
Magistrate Shahiduddin Ahmed
            ordered her arrest on June 4, 1994. In August of that year,
a court granted her bail and
            she was permitted to leave the country. She now lives in
Europe.

            In the past, as you may know, PEN has written frequently to
your predessessors in
            government regarding her case. Despite our efforts, and
those of many other
            international human rights groups, Ms. Nasrin remains
charged with "deliberately
            and maliciously outraging the religious feelings of Muslims"
under article 295a. Her
            prosecution stems from her alleged statements published last
year in the Calcutta-
            based Statesman. Her defence lawyers argue that, since the
alleged offence occurred
            outside of Bangladesh's territory, the case against her
should be dropped as it itself
            violates Bangladeshi law. The Supreme Court is to finally
decide on whether or not the
            case against her should proceed in a hearing, we understand,
on January 9.

            We believe that a conviction in Ms. Nasrin's case, which
could result in a possible
            two-year imprisonment with hard labor, would be a violation
of her right to freedom of
            expression as guaranteed under Article 19 of the
International Covenant on Civil and
            Political Rights. To imprison her, while allowing those who
threatened her life to go
            free, would seem to us both a perverse and incomprehensible
interpretation of the law.

            We understand that the matter is now in the hands of the
judiciary which, of course, is
            independent. However, if our view of the matter could be
transmitted by you to the
            Supreme Court, we would be most grateful. We also request
that, should Ms. Nasrin
            return to Bangladesh in the event of the charge against her
being dropped, every
            measure be taken to ensure her safety.

            We thank you for your attention and welcome your comments.

            Sincerely,

            Michael Scammell
            President, PEN American Center


The material that follows has been provided by Index on Censorship

Taslima Nasrin

Siberia in my soul

A YEAR has passed and I am one year older, but the new year has
brought no promise nor hope of freedom. Exile has no limits: how long
shall I spend the life of a stranger in a foreign land? I see no reason
to
live in hope of tomorrow.

If someone gave me a single wish, I would answer without a thought:
I want to go back to my homeland, Bangladesh. So many years have
passed since I left my home. So many years since I last looked on her
beautiful face. Sometimes I think I'll go crazy. To those who judge me
from outside, I should be happy, content. I don't have to worry about
food, clothes and shelter like most of the people back home. I don't
have to run for my life any more.
There is no fatwa nor demonstrations against me. And no spontaneous flow
of writing in my life
any more.

There are so many caring, friendly people around me here. But still I
cannot say I am happy. I've
been uprooted from the very soil where I was born and grew up to be
myself. Europe: 'the land of
dreams' for so many. But what am I here? A rootless person in this alien
soil, no sense of belonging.
Just another plastic plant in a painted pot. No flowers bloom, even the
buds wither away long before
their time.

Deep in my soul I still have the urge to create, once more to bring
forth the flowers. I want to write
again. But for the last year I could write nothing but poems. Poems born
from the tears and sighs of
my depressed soul. I could describe only my cravings to be a bird and
fly back to my beloved
Bangladesh. I remember how, in winter, birds from cold, distant lands
like Siberia would make their
long flight to Bangladesh in search of warmth and sunlight. I too was
caught in the wintry coldness
of imprisonment in my country when the fatwa was announced against me,
when they put a price
on my head. It was Europe that gave me shelter and saved my life. I can
never forget its warm
generosity.

But still my heart craves to return. To start my life as a writer again
in my old familiar
surroundings, among my own people. To sit behind my old writing desk,
pen in hand once more.
Will Bangladesh remain my eternal Siberia?

Taslima Nasrin is a doctor and writer from Bangladesh. Following death
threats against her by
Muslim extremists accusing her of blasphemy and 'conspiracy against
Islam' and the banning in
July 1993 by the Bangladesh authorities of her novel Lajja (Shame), she
was forced to leave her
country




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