Sign this letter here.

We, poets and writers from around the world, are appalled that the Saudi Arabian authorities have sentenced Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh to death for apostasy.

It is not a crime to hold an idea, however unpopular, nor is it a crime to express opinion peacefully. Every individual has the freedom to believe or not believe. Freedom of conscience is an essential human right.

The death sentence against Fayadh is the latest example of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s lack of tolerance for freedom of expression and ongoing persecution of free thinkers.

We, Fayadh’s fellow poets and writers, urge the Saudi authorities to desist from punishing individuals for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and call for his immediate and unconditional release.

Adonis
Yeşim Ağaoğlu
Jaffar Alalawy
Nawal Al Ali
Ghayath Almadhoun
Ahmed Al-Mulla
Bassem Al-Nabriss
Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi
Hanan Al-Shaykh
Manal Al-Sheikh
Indran Amirthanayagam
Homero Aridjis
Verónica González Arredondo
John Ashbery
Jonathan Asser
Martine Audet
Ali Bader
Cecilia Balcázar
Simona Barabesi
Daté Atavito Barnabé-Akayi
Adam Baron
John Beer
Paul Bélanger
Mohamed Bennis
Caroline Bergvall
Bill Berkson
Anselm Berrigan
Jen Bervin
Crispin Best
Navtej Bharati
Frank Bidart
Linda Black
France Boisvert
Jacques Boulerice
Alexander Bowden
Stephen Boyce
Denis Boyles
Patrick Boulanger
Susan Bradley-Smith
Ross Bradshaw
Andrea Brady
Eric Brogniet
Nicole Brossard
Nicole Cage
Gerry Cambridge
Kimberly Campanello
Sylvain Campeau
Monica Carter
Francis Catalano
Paul Chamberland
Amarjit Chandan
Tina Chang
Chloe Chard
Jennifer Clement
Dave Coates
Peter Cole
Henri Cole
Martha Collins
David Colmer
Helen Constantine
David Constantine
Andrew Cowan
Philip Cowell
David Coxhead
Judith Crispin
Alison Croggon
Alain Dantinne
Jean-Paul Daoust
Najwan Darwish
Richard Davis
Deborah Dawkin
Benjamin Dawson
François Debluë
Antonio Della Rocca
Toi Derricotte
Denise Desautels
Jean-Marc Desgent
Dot Devota
Tim Dooley
Kim Doré
Hélène Dorion
Suzanne Dracius
Livia Dragomir
Carol Ann Duffy
Sasha Dugdale
Louise Dupré
Nirupama Dutt
Ken Edwards
Martina Evans
Gareth Evans
Reza Farmand
Jennie Feldman
Nikky Finney
Allen Fisher
Jack Foley
Danielle Fournier
Graham Foust
Steven Fowler
Rose-Marie François
Annie Freud
Philip Fried
Aleksandr Frolov
Madeleine Gagnon
André Gaulin
Daniel Gauthier
Ross Gay
Gary Geddes
Annelyse Gelman
Divya Ghelani
Robert Gillett
Chrissie Gittins
Andrew Graham-Yooll
Kate Greenstreet
Patricia Grodd
Daniel Guimond
Marilyn Hacker
Golan Haji
Joe Hall
Robert Hamberger
Paul Hamilton
Robert Hampson
Volha Hapeyeva
Robert Hass
Hugh Hazelton
Hunter Heaney
Una Helle
Adina Hoffman
Anthony Howell
Robert Hull
Emily Hunt
Kirsten Irving
Martine Jacquot
Sarah Jaffray
Sylwia Janik
Maria Jastrzebska
Tom Jenks
Trevor Joyce
Jamal Jumá
George Kalogeris
Fawzi Karim
Susie Kearley
Sarah Kelly
David Kelly-Mancaux
Caleb Klaces
Karen Klein
Marius Kociejowski
Purdey Lord Kreiden
Monika Kumar
Laurier Lacroix
Dzmitry Ladzes
Christian Lafleur
Mike Lala
Mandla Langa
Nancy R Lange
Mona Latif-Ghattas
Stuart Laycock
Maxime Le Flaguais
Michel Leclerc
J.R. Léveillé
Frances Leviston
Francesca Lisette
Carrie Lorig
Raymond Louw
Jorge Ariel Madrazo
Anthony Madrid
Sarah Maguire
Christodoulos Makris
Harry Man
Alison Marchant
Frederick Marchant
Jean Claude Maréchal
Émile Martel
Gabriel Martín
Sophie Mayer
Chris McCabe
Olivia McCannon
Michael McClure
John McCullough
Chris Meade
Dunya Mikhail
James Miller
Marie-Hélène Montpetit
Stephen Mooney
Esteban Moore
Jean Morisset
Lennox Morrison
Andrew Mueller
Paul Muldoon
Eileen Myles
Maryam Namazie
Katrina Naomi
Pierre Nepveu
Pamela Newham
Louise Nicholas
Katharine Norbury
T Norwood
Naomi Nye
Pascal O’Loughlin
Amir Or
Margie Orford
Meghan O’Rourke
Gregory Orr
Pierre Ouellet
Fernand Ouellette
Jan Owen
Ruth Padel
Daniele Pantano
Brian Patten
Michael Pedersen
Robina Pelham Burn
Jean-Pierre Pelletier
Holly Pester
Nika Pfeifer
Carl Phillips
Jean-Guy Pilon
Sylvie Poisson
Clare Pollard
Arnau Pons
Jean-François Poupart
A. Powell
Michele Pralong
Louise Prescott
Nina Puro
Fareed Ramadan
Francine Rheaume
Ron Riddell
Nicholas Ridout
Sam Riviere
Marie-Clotilde Roose
Patrick Rosal
William Rowe
Francoise Roy
Jean Royer
Véronique Rozon
Stefi Rubin
Charles Sagalane
Rodney Saint-Éloi
Odelin Salmeron
Metta Sáma
Philippe Sands
John Ralston Saul
Simon Schama
Aki Schilz
Philip Schultz
Vijay Seshadri
Solmaz Sharif
Owen Sheers
Robert Sheppard
David Shook
Ishtiyaq Shukri
Sukhdev Sidhu
Tom Siklebery
Charles Simić
Andra Simons
Jean Sioui
Astra Skrābane
Anna Smith
Kathrine Sowerby
Patricia Spears Jones
David Spittle
Julie Stanton
Thór Stefánsson
Pamela Stewart
Hugh Stoddart
Melanie Stokes
Laila Sumpton
Janet Sutherland
Terese Svoboda
George Szirtes
Mary Szybist
Niloufar Talebi
Rebecca Tamas
Tugrul Tanyol
Michael Thomas Taren
Serge-Patrice Thibodeau
TC Tolbert
Liz Tomlin
Carles Torner
Vrouwkje Tuinman
Tom Van de Voorde
Stefaan van den Bremt
Nathan Walker
Carol Watts
David Wearing
Les Wicks
James Wilkes
Magnus William-Olsson
Debra Winegarten
Sam Winston
Ellie Wright
Mohammad Yousef
Dominique Zalitis
Ghassan Zaqtan