People who stand up for human rights are treated as if they are enemies of the state” - in the US

Privacy activist Ilija Trojanow refused entry to US

A Bulgarian-German novelist and privacy activist was on Monday refused entry to the US, writes the Guardian's Berlin correspondent Philip Oltermann.

Ilija Trojanow, who had been on his way to a literary conference in Denver, was told at Salvador da Bahia airport, Brazil, that US authorities wouldn't allow him into the country. He was told his case was “special”, but was given no further explanation for his rejection.

Trojanow was one of the initiators of an open protest letter against NSAsurveillance which was signed by 67,407 members of the public and handed over to the German chancellor last month.

As well as the author of several prize-winning novels, he is the co-author with Juli Zeh of a book on the surveillance state, Angriff auf die Freiheit (“An attack on freedom: the security delusion, the surveillance state and the dismantling of our rights”).

In an article published this morning on the website of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Trojanow explains that he has repeatedly asked officials for an explanation for the rejection, but was given no answer.

His ESTA application for entry to the US had been approved before he embarked on his trip.

He writes that his case “illustrates the consequences of a disastrous development and reveals the naivety of those who try and reassure themselves with the mantra 'It doesn't apply to me'”.

Writing on her Facebook page, novelist Juli Zeh commented: “This is a farce. Sheer paranoia. People who stand up for human rights are treated as if they are enemies of the state”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/30/nsa-files-edward-snowden-gchq-whistleblower