IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

De Rooie Rat, Politieke Boekhandel hosts authors of controversial new book Jose Maria Sison: At Home in the World, Portrait of a Revolutionary
For immediate release: December 7, 2004

Alleged “terrorist” Jose Maria Sison and internationally-acclaimed author Ninotchka Rosca will be hosted by De Rooie Rat, Politieke Boekhandel in Utrecht, the Netherlands on 9 december 2004 for a book signing of the controversial new book “Jose Maria Sison: At Home in theWorld, Portrait of a Revolutionary”.

“Jose Maria Sison: At Home in the World, Portrait of a Revolutionary,” chronicles the life of exiled Philippine revolutionary, Jose Maria Sison. The book accounts Sison’s struggles and triumphs from the time as a youth organizer, to founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and to the unjust “terrorist” listing by the US, Australia, Canada, The Netherlands, and the European Union during the year 2002.

Since the book’s official release in September 2004, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department has frozen Sison's advance royalty from the American publisher, Open Hand Publishing. This is the latest initiative by the US government and the European Union to further freeze Sison's assets. Since the “terrorist” listing in 2002, Sison has lost all housing, health and food allowance benefits in the Netherlands where he has been living in exile since 1987.

As a another consequence to the “terrorist” listing, a travel ban has been imposed upon Sison, limiting his travel to only within the Netherlands. Thus, he has been unable to participate in the many book launchings, cultural events, and others such activities held in his defense in countries around the world. There shall be a hearing of his complaint against the Dutch foreign ministry on the travel ban on 13 December 2004 at the Utrecht district court.

“Having both authors present at an event is a truly rare and historic opportunity for the public to meet two outstanding revolutionaries together in one place,” states Ruth de Leon, representative of Committee DEFEND International, an international committee to uphold the democratic rights of Professor Jose Maria Sison. “It is also a chance for the the public to genuinely understand the man behind the so-called “terrorist” label and that revolutionaries legitimately fighting for liberation and peace are not terrorists.”

“A Revolutionary is not a Terrorist”
9 December 2004
1800 h
De Rooie Rat, Politieke Boekhandel
Oudegracht 65
3511 AD Utrecht
Tel 030 231 7189

For more information contact Chico or Leah at 030-231-0431 or 0638200152