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CAMPAIGNS AND SUPPORT TO MUSICIANS Myanmar/Burma: Win Maw Imprisoned in 2008. Released in January 2012 Turkey: Petition for Gazin who received a one year prison sentence for singing two Kurdish songs Turkey: Ferhat Tunç  Still on trial An important objective of Freemuse is to support musicians in need and observe at their trials. Freemuse Visa campaign The Freemuse report ‘Visas / The Discordant Note’ – which was based on input from various European tour and festival organisers and their experiences with visa issuing offices outside Europe – was published in 2009 with various recommendations to these administrators of the visa systems. Since then, numerous reports and events have referred to the document. Read more... Freemuse Quick Guide -  Artist Visa Applications: Arguments for Success Previous Freemuse campaigns Cameroon: Lapiro de Mbanga In prison 2008-2011. Released: 8 April 2011. Latest news about Freemuse's campaigns Myanmar/Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi congratulates Freedom to Create Prize winner A specially recorded congratulatory message for Win Maw from Burma's pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi 20 November 2011 Myanmar/Burma: Win Maw receives Freedom to Create Imprisoned Artist Prize Burma's famous musician and human rights activist Win Maw received the 2011 Freedom to Create Imprisoned Artist Prize in absentia 19 November 2011 Myanmar/Burma: Awareness concert and award nomination for imprisoned singer Concert event on 26 November 2011 in Thailand for Win Maw, imprisoned in Burma since 2008, and now shortlisted for the Freedom to Create Prize 16 November 2011 Turkey: Campaign for Kurdish singer and activist Gazin (Raziye Kızıl) A petition addressed to the Turkish Prime Minister to free Gazin who was sentenced to one year in prison for having sung two Kurdish songs 26 October 2011 US visa issues: Two orchestras forced to cancel their concerts An American festival had to cancel two shows and two workshops by international artists due to visa problems and alleged embassy discrimination 26 September 2011 UK: Public letter calls for a new visa system for leading performers A campaign to remove short-term visiting artists from the unnecessary bureaucracy nears a policy breakthrough, according to its campaigners 01 August 2011 Cameroon: Lapiro back in court Singer Lapiro de Mbanga has filed a case against the Chief Medical Officer of the Douala Central Prison for having denied him access to medical attention while in prison 20 June 2011 Singer and politician Ferhat Tunç receives violence threats A gendarmerie commander reportedly ordered village guards to “break Ferhat Tunç’s legs” as Ferhat Tunç was starting a tour in villages in Cemisgezek/Dersim area 11 May 2011 Cameroon: First video interview after Lapiro's release from prison On 8 May 2011 Freemuse recorded singer Lapiro de Mbanga's first video interview since he was released from prison in Douala on 8 April after three years imprisonment 08 May 2011 Freemuse campaign: Visa issues damage the music industry European countries need to make visa and work permit procedures and the general access to the European market for artists more flexible, transparent and homogenous 04 May 2011 Cameroon: Singer Lapiro de Mbanga released from prison Singer Lapiro de Mbanga was released from New Bell Prison in Douala on Friday 8 April 2011 at 2 pm after three years imprisonment under harsh conditions 08 April 2011 Cameroon: Lapiro appears at the Supreme Court On Thursday 17 March 2011, the musician Lapiro de Mbanga was called to the Cameroon Supreme Court for what appeared to be superflous technicalities 24 March 2011 Cameroon: Freemuse visits Lapiro in prison After years of international campaigning, Freemuse finally managed to have a personal meeting with Lapiro de Mbanga who has been imprisoned in Cameroon since 2008 17 March 2011 Cameroon: Lapiro receives award on Music Freedom Day On Music Freedom Day, 3 March 2011, Freemuse visited Cameroon and handed over a much awaited award to the imprisoned singer Lapiro de Mbanga 09 March 2011 Myanmar/Burma: New Win Maw songs smuggled out of Burma The singer and human rights activist Win Maw continues his struggle for freedom of expression from the prison. Freemuse received three new songs from him. 16 February 2011 Turkey: Ferhat Tunç receives 25 days prison sentence The Kurdish-Turkish singer Ferhat Tunç was sentenced to 25 days in prison for a speech he made during a concert in 2006 27 January 2011 Turkey: Supreme Court re-opens case against Ferhat Tunç Going to court is becoming a repeatative nightmare for the Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç 04 January 2011 Turkey: Ferhat Tunc acquitted and immediately charged again One day after the court in Diyabarkir acquitted Ferhat Tunç the Istanbul police turned up at his home today to inform the singer that he will be charged in two new cases 05 November 2010 Turkey: Ferhat Tunç acquitted Freemuse Award winner, Ferhat Tunç was acquitted this morning from the Diyarbarkir Criminal Court in Turkey 04 November 2010 Cameroon: Lapiro - behind bars in Cameroon, behind a mic in Brooklyn Singer Lapiro de Mbanga joins by phone from jail in Cameroon as U.S. Afro-pop band performs his banned song live in New York 28 October 2010 Cameroon: Interview with singer Lapiro de Mbanga in ‘Smashed Hits 2.0’ In ‘Smashed Hits 2.0’, Cameroonian singer Lapiro de Mbanga gives an exclusive interview to Daniel Brown from prison on protest, politics and the art of satire 25 October 2010 Artist Visa Applications: Arguments for Success - a Quick Guide A few references that you can mention when you argue for smooth visa handling while dealing with visa issuing offices and embassies 20 October 2010 Cameroon: Musicians are silent after Lapiro’s imprisonment The fact that Lapiro is in prison for his music has discouraged other artists in the country to create any kind of innovative projects or critical song lyrics 20 October 2010 Cameroon: Lapiro fires back at Minister of Communication Lapiro de Mbanga, imprisoned since 2008 retaliates at Minister of Communication who on 30 July 2010 announced that Cameroon did not host any political prisoners 30 August 2010 Myanmar/Burma: Freemuse in joint campaign for imprisoned comedian The Free Zarganar Campaign, which advocates for the release of Burmese comedian Zarganar, urges MEP's to nominate him for the European Parliament's Sakharov Price 25 August 2010 EU policy library refers to Freemuse Visa White Paper The Freemuse report ‘Visas / The Discordant Note’ has been included as an official research document in the EU Commission's 'Library of Policy Documents' 11 August 2010 Turkey: Date of next hearing set in Ferhat Tunç's case The date for the next hearing in the case against musician and Freemuse Award winner Ferhat Tunç has been set to 30 September 2010 04 August 2010 Cameroon: International Pen and Freemuse in joint appeal for Lapiro African Human Rights bodies and monitoring systems are urged to act on behalf of Cameroonian singer Lapiro de Mbanga 30 June 2010 Freemuse appeals to Turkish Prime Minister: Dismiss Ferhat Tunç's case Artists, human rights activists and scholars join Freemuse in an appeal to the Turkish government for the dismissal of the latest court case against Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç 24 June 2010 Cameroon/Denmark: Danish minister drawn into Lapiro de Mbanga's case Danish politicians demand investigation of financial support to company accused of inhuman working conditions and co-responsibility for the imprisonment of singer Lapiro 22 June 2010 Cameroon: Lapiro de Mbanga’s legal team files petition to United Nations On 16 June 2010, the international legal team for singer Lapiro de Mbanga filed an urgent action petition with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention 18 June 2010 Cameroon: United Nations secretary-general urged to speak up for Lapiro Freedom Now, a US-based lawyers’ advocacy organisation urges secretary-general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, to request that President Biya releases Lapiro de Mbanga 09 June 2010 Cameroon: Maersk Group accused for involvement in case against Lapiro A.P. Moller - Maersk Group, the worldwide conglomerate operating in around 130 countries, is accused for being partly responsible for the imprisonment of singer Lapiro 26 May 2010 Cameroon: International PEN releases new protest campaign for Lapiro The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN has launched a new protest campaign for the continuing imprisonment of singer-songwriter Lapiro de Mbanga 28 April 2010 Cameroon: Lapiro de Mbanga honoured at Cameroon Music Awards Organisers of the Cameroon music and cultural awards, Canal D'Or, have honoured jailed singer Lapiro de Mbanga with a Life Time Achievement Award 28 April 2010 Cameroon / USA: American lawyers prepare UN petition for Lapiro Cameroon keeping Lapiro imprisoned is a violation of international law, argues a team of four lawyers from a US law firm 25 January 2010 Cameroon: Free-for-download album in support of Lapiro de Mbanga Mondomix has launched a free-for-download album in support of the imprisoned cameroonian singer Lapiro de Mbanga 06 January 2010 Cameroon: Lapiro de Mbanga wins global award Imprisoned musician Lapiro de Mbanga is the 2009 winner of the 'Freedom to Create' Imprisoned Artist Prize 25 November 2009 Cameroon: Lapiro shortlisted for global award High profiled panel points at imprisoned musician Lapiro for the final shortlist of The Orient Global Freedom to Create Prize 26 October 2009 Help free Lapiro de Mbanga! Sign the petition Freemuse in action 13 October 2009 Cameroon: International lawyers support imprisoned singer Lapiro Freedom Now, a US based lawyers’ advocacy organisation, is now officially monitoring singer Lapiro de Mbanga's case 07 October 2009 Cameroon: Lapiro is the one who has to pay for all In this complicated case, there are problems of leadership, tribalism and politics. Lapiro de Mbanga’s case is a political persecution in disguise, writes journalist Jen Bell 09 July 2009 Cameroon: Interview with human rights advocate about Lapiro's case “This was an unfair trial. Now there must be lobbying actions,” said Dr Hilaire Kamga is president of NHRC, New Human Rights Cameroon, about Lapiro's court case 03 July 2009 Cameroon: Interview with Lapiro de Mbanga "This is the trial of the voiceless," said singer Lapiro de Mbanga when he was interviewed just a few hours before a court hearing on 24 June 2009 in Douala, Cameroon 03 July 2009 Cameroon: Lapiro's case taken to Supreme Court of Appeal “We are full of hope”, said Lapiro de Mbanga’s lawyer, Me Augustin Mbami, in an interview about which procedures are to be undertaken next, after losing the Appeal Court 02 July 2009 Cameroon: Singer Lapiro de Mbanga loses appeal court Cameroon power system strikes back at the popular singer Lapiro de Mbanga. It seems obvious that he has not got a fair trial, says Freemuse programme officer 25 June 2009 Cameroon: New verdict, same prison sentence to Lapiro Lapiro de Mbanga’s sentence of three years imprisonment and the fine of FCFA 280 millions was confirmed at a court hearing on 24 June 2009 in Douala, reported Jen Bell 25 June 2009 Protest petition: African artist's tour cancelled due to blocked visas A petition 'against EU visa discrimination of musicians’ was started after the European tour of Zimbabwean Mokoomba was forced to be cancelled 17 June 2009 UK: New visa rules threaten dozens of concerts and festivals A report reveals that more than 20 major arts events have been cancelled or badly affected by new UK visa regulations 17 June 2009 UK: Visa system forces Russian ballet company to cancel shows A Russian ballet company has been forced to cancel its 2009 programme after failing to obtain UK visas for its dancers in time 17 June 2009 Visa report highlighted but serious problems remain While visa issues continue to create controversy, the Freemuse white paper ‘Visa / the discordant note’ plays an essential role in various international fora 17 June 2009 Cameroun: Musician Lapiro de Mbanga faces new trial Musician Lapiro de Mbanga faces a new trial on 20 March 2009 because of accusations that a song of his led to the destruction of a banana plantation 11 February 2009 Sweden: Minister of Migration welcomes visa white paper “The ‘white paper’ points its fingers at very essential problems,” said Tobias Billström, the Swedish Minister of Migration, in a live radio programme 21 January 2009 Cameroun: Campaign for release of Lapiro Vigier, the company that has supplied the singer Lapiro de Mbanga with a guitar, launches a new campaign for the release of the Cameroonese musician 17 December 2008 White paper launched at Womex: 'Visa issues – the discordant note' White paper on visa issues launched at an international music trade fair: 'European countries need to make visa procedures more flexible, transparent and homogenous' 31 October 2008 Cameroun: Appeal for songwriter detained for his lyrics International Pen Writers in Prison Committee sent this appeal on 7 august 2008 protesting the arrest and four-month detention of singer-songwriter Lapiro de Mbanga 07 August 2008 Campaign: Urge for immediate release of Burmese musician Freemuse joins campaign supporting Win Maw, arrested on 27 November 2007. His arrest is thought to be part of the wider crackdown on pro-democracy activists. 25 April 2008 Campaign: Urge for immediate release of Cameroonian musicians Freemuse joins campaign supporting the two musicians arrested in Cameroun 25 April 2008 Campaign: Urge for immediate release of Tibetan singer Freemuse joins campaign supporting the Tibetanian singer and song-writer arrested by Chinese authorities 25 April 2008 Freemuse campaign: 'Safe cities' should include all artists Freemuse initiates a campaign for inclusion of musicians and other artists in the Danish 'safe cities' system 10 January 2008 Freemuse campaign: Visa issues kill music In collaboration with international artists organisations Freemuse launches an investigation of visa and work permit procedures in order to influence policy makers 26 November 2007 Ferhat Tunç campaign 2007 International campaign in support of musician on trial for remarks on Kurdish issue. Freemuse request the Turkish State to drop its case against singer Ferhat Tunç 02 October 2007 Freemuse Press Statement: Drop the cases against Ferhat Tunç Freemuse Press Statement requesting immediate dismissal of all cases against Mr. Ferhat Tunç 01 October 2007 Statement against the use of music as torture Freemuse supports the Position Statement on Torture adopted by the British Society for Ethnomusicology 11 June 2007 Bahrain: Freemuse declaration read aloud A request to Bahranian politicians in response to fundamentalist attacks on culture festival 18 April 2007 Declaration demanding abolishment of Turkey's Article 301 29 non-governmental organisations have released a joint declaration demanding abolishment of Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code and other articles violating freedom of expression 12 February 2007 Ferhat Tunç campaign 2005 International campaign: Freemuse and musicians world-wide request the Turkish State to drop its case against singer Ferhat Tunç 06 December 2005 The case of Gorki Luis Águila Carrasco The controversial Cuban rock artist Gorki Luis Águila Carrasco who was sentenced to four years imprisonment in 2003, was released 16 March 2005. 17 March 2005