The Empty Chair S2 E1: Nadia Davids & Ma Thida On Freedom and Being a Good Citizen

In the first episode of Season Two of The Empty Chair, the president of PEN South Africa, Nadia Davids, is in conversation with Dr Ma Thida, medical doctor, writer, human rights activist, former prisoner of conscience and current chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee. Ma Thida reads from Prisoner of Conscience: My Steps Through Insein and discusses her experience of imprisonment, freedom of expression, censorship, the value of reading, her activism, PEN, and what it means to be a good citizen. In this episode we stand in solidarity with three writers, all members of PEN Myanmar: Than Myint Aung, Maung Thar Cho and Wai Moe Naing.

Our information about these writers is from PEN Myanmar. Their Facebook page was taken down for security reasons after the military coup in Myanmar. Their messages for the Day of The Imprisoned Writer are on the Writers in Prison Committee Facebook page, and the following details were shared there on 11 November 2021:

Than Myint Aung is a Burmese philanthropist and writer known for her novels and short stories on societal issues. Maung Thar Cho is a professor of Burmese language and well-known writer and poet. He is famous for his literary talks all over the country. Both of them were arrested on the very early morning of February 1 this year and are currently held in the notorious Insein prison. They are charged under the defamation law and their family members have no access to them. They are in their late 60s and have some heart-related illnesses but are not allowed proper medical treatment.

Wai Moe Naing, also known as ‘Monya Panda’, is a Burmese writer, politician, activist, and one of the most prominent leaders of the anti-coup movement. He rose to prominence for his role in organizing daily anti-coup protests in Monya. On April 15, 2021 he was hit by a car and then arrested by the junta’s armed forces. He was charged with murder, unlawful assembly, wrongful confinement, abduction with intent to murder, and incitement. He is currently detained in Monywa prison, and no other information about his health and trial are yet known, especially after the serious third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

PEN South Africa joins PEN Myanmar in demanding their immediate release, along with other writers, poets, and journalists from Myanmar, detained after the February 2021 military coup.

Listen below:

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