Journalist Quits Free-Speech Org’s Board After Russian Panel Canceled

Journalist Masha Gessen was supposed to moderate a panel with Russian writers at PEN America’s World Voices Festival. But Ukrainian writers objected to the discussion and the free-speech organization canceled it—prompting Gessen to step down as vice president of the board, The New York Times reports. “I very much believe in the mission of PEN, but I had to step down from leadership in order to not be implicated in what I think was a mistaken decision,” said Gessen, who is a vociferous critic of Vladimir Putin. Artem Chapeye, one of the Ukrainians participating in the May 13 event, explained the objection to the inclusion of Russians in the festival by saying, “A Ukrainian soldier cannot be seen under the same ‘umbrella’ with Russian participants for political / public image reasons.”