PEN Afrikaans strongly condemns Putin’s war and calls on world leaders to actively support Ukraine to end the war. Peace must prevail.
Below is our response to a letter from PEN Ukraine, the text of which is available here.
Fellow PEN centre in the Ukraine
It is with shock and utter dismay that we as members of PEN Afrikaans became aware of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and have since received news about the suffering this is causing citizens of your country.
PEN Afrikaans has already posted your appeal for support of the Ukraine on various podia in the public domain, and will support efforts to convince the South African government and public to condemn the current actions of Russia unconditionally, and to take action accordingly.
By means of PEN Afrikaans’s internet podia, we have also gratefully communicated the information you have provided about trustworthy news sources on the occurrences in your country to our members and other visitors to those podia.
We share your horror at this invasion of your country and at this endangerment of your lives.
Yours sincerely
Bernard Odendaal
Chairperson: PEN Afrikaans