Jailed for singing

Artists who speak out against injustice through music have been threatened, jailed and exiled. But nothing seems to silence banned musicians as they raise the volume through the organisation of Freemuse

Tiken Jah Fakoly is a reggae singer who was born in the Republic of C ufffdte d'Ivoire but can no longer sing in his home country since he lives in exile in the neighbouring country of Mali in West Africa.

Popularly known as Ivory Coast, the area has been rife with civil war since 2002. Fakoly plays music "to wake up the conscience," he says and speaks about the injustice the oppressed people in his country have been subjected to. Fakoly was declared persona non grata or "unwanted person" after he wrote a song that criticised President Abdoulaye Wade in 2007.


Reggae singer Tiken Jah Fakoly

In 2006, Ferhat Tunc from Turkey was sentenced to 25 days in prison for "spreading propaganda" during a concert where he performed a song titled, No to war. It spoke about the Kurdish minority. "We have to overcome and destroy fears imposed on us. There are armed conflicts in our country, people dieu00a0-- we want to sing songs of peace freely on our ground without fear and worries," he says.

Tunc and Fakoly are Freemuse award winners, an independent international organisation that advocates freedom of expression for musicians and composers worldwide.

Ole Reitov, programme manager of Freemuse, worked as a journalist for 40 years. He says, "Censorship rules are very strange in countries like Iran where women are not allowed to perform solo and almost all hip-hip and rock bands are denied permission to organise concerts and publish music. State controlled media are the worst censors, but even the industry tends to keep artists silent."

Based in Copenhagen and operational since 1998, Freemuse supports artists who's creative freedom is threatened, documents violations against musicians and adopts campaigns to fight censorship.

"The response has been phenomenal. Zimbabwe, Cameroon and Egypt are organising concerts and discussions on the matter," says Reitov, who admits that there's still a long way to go. "Did you know that China can censor any lyrics they declare as oppositional or critical to the regime?"

Listen to the Banned is a CD launched by Freemuse that includes music by banned artists from 12 countries. "Farhad Darya had to leave Afghanistan during the Taliban regime, when all music was banned. Lapiro de Mbanga was put in prison for a critical song against the President of Cameroon.

Haroon Bacha had to leave Pakistan after threats, and Marcel kahlife was charged of blasphemy because he used a verse from a poem by Mahmoud Darwish, which was a quote from the Quran. All of them feature on the CD," says Reitov.

Freemuse activities work around developing a support network for musicians at risk in West Africa, Middle East and South West Asia. The organisation includes collaborations with local media organizations, pro-bono lawyers and artists.

"Musicians need to organize, collaborate and lobby together in order to promote freedom of musical expression. Social media and the Internet have been extremely efficient tools for distributing music through alternative channels, but as we know, Chinese developed-government tools can squeeze even the Internet," proposes Reitov.

"(The authorities) they prosecute us for our words when we speak, and for our songs when we sing. Then how are we free?" asks Tun .

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