You know the drill. This story will try to cue your moral outrage, to make you feel bad about man's inhumanity to man in some distant grim place inhabited by people you'll never meet, none of whom is as fascinating as Tom Cruise. No one could blame you for turning the page. This story is different. It's about more than that.
Ideas have consequences.
If, however, you're a writer in a troubled country, and an idea crops up in your work that's hostile to those in power, the result can be a grave threat to your safety. Ken Saro-Wiwa, another Nigerian writer, hanged by the government for treason in 1995. Many others worldwide have been intimidated, jailed, tortured. The organization offered Rushdie a hidey-hole in Strasbourg, France. He opted to stay in England, but the refuge plan was born.