Hrant Dink, Wesenseged Gebrekidan, Lydia Cacho, Yang Xiaoqing, Ibrahim Issa and Sahar Zaki have been imprisoned for doing their jobs as writers and journalists: exposing corruption and analysing troubling aspects of their societies. The writer's rights group PEN is organizing action in their defense today, dubbed Day of the Imprisoned Writer. Can "the second superpower" -- the extra-national community of concerned citizens activated by technology-enabled networks (like the internet, or mobile phones) to make change from the bottom up -- pull away the veils of obscurity that their respective governments would prefer to drop over these writers and their work?

Such networks have had big impacts here and there in the past few years. The ur-example is in South Korea, where people spurred by citizen journalist reports on OhmyNews spread text messages to get out the vote in 2002. This galvanized younger voters in particular, and helped sweep reformist President Roh Moo Hyun into power -- after mainstream papers had alienated voters by portraying him as a dangerous radical.

I heard about the PEN campaign only yesterday, via a discussion on the online community The WELL, and have the privilege of being about to spread the word here on WorldChanging -- of doing citizen journalism -- without fear of reprisal. Here are the details in brief, via the PEN web site. Click more after each item to find out what you can do to defend these writers.

• Turkey: Hrant Dink,editor of an Armenian language newspaper sentenced to a six-month suspended term and two other cases still pending on charges of insult....more
• Ethiopia: Wesenseged Gebrekidan, journalist serving a total of two years in prison on defamation charges and facing further trials...more
• Mexico: Lydia Cacho, writer on trial for defamation and under attack for her book on child pornography and prostitution...more
• China: Yang Xiaoqing, Internet journalist sentenced to a year in prison on extortion charges that are believed to be in retaliation for posting "defamatory" articles on local corruption...more
• Egypt: Ibrahim Issa and Sahar Zaki, editor and journalist, respectively, each sentenced to one year in prison for articles “insultingâ€? the Egyptian President...more

  (Thanks, sussu-nen)