Writers at Risk Database
PEN America champions the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. The bedrock work of the global PEN network is advocacy and assistance on behalf of individuals persecuted for their use of the written word or other forms of expression. PEN America’s Writers at Risk Database is a searchable catalog of the writers, journalists, academics, public intellectuals and others under threat around the world. The database includes historical cases PEN America has worked on from 1987 onwards; non-active cases are color-coded black. PEN America is grateful to the John Templeton Foundation for support that enabled the establishment of the Writers at Risk Database and to PEN International for their collaboration in assembling this database.
Filters
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ImprisonedPham Doan Trang
Activist, Journalist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorVietnamAsia-PacificA blogger, democracy activist, and non-fiction author, Trang resigned from the Liberal Publishing House in July 2020, citing security threats. In October 2020, she was detained on charges of making anti-state propaganda under Article 117. In December 2021, she was sentenced to 9 years in prison following over a year…
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ImprisonedIlham Tohti
Online Commentator, ScholarChinaAsia-PacificTohti, an influential Uyghur writer and economist, co-founded the website Uyghurbiz. He was arrested at Beijing airport in January 2014, and found guilty of separatism and sentenced to life imprisonment in September 2014. Tohti had endured years of repeated instances of harassment and detentions for his peaceful advocacy for the…
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Conditional ReleaseMahvash Sabet
Literary writer, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaA literary writer, poet, and member of the Baha’i community, Mahvash Sabet was arrested in July 2022. In November, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison on national security charges in a speedy trial. According to fellow prisoner Narges Mohammadi, Sabet has suffered torture and ill treatment in custody,…
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Conditional ReleaseAli Asadollahi
Literary writer, Online Commentator, Poet, Singer/Songwriter, TranslatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaAli Asadollahi is a noted poet, writer, translator, and member of the Iranian Writers’ Association. He has written six poetry collections, been published widely in literary journals, and has won awards for his writing and translation. Asadollahi was first detained in November 2022 after he published poems on his website…
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ReleasedVladyslav Yesypenko
JournalistUkraineEurope and Central AsiaYesypenko, a freelance journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained in March 2021 by the Russian Federal Security Services (FSB) while reporting in Crimea. FSB agents reportedly tortured him and forced him to confess; and in February 2022, he was sentenced to six years in prison and a fine…
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DetainedGalal El-Behairy
Poet, Singer/SongwriterEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaGalal El-Behairy is an Egyptian poet, lyricist, and activist who has been imprisoned since his arrest at Cairo International Airport in March 2018 while attempting to travel abroad. Before his arrest, El-Behairy had collaborated with musician Ramy Essam on the protest song “Balaha,” for which he wrote the lyrics. Just…
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ImprisonedYury Alexeyevich Dmitriev
Activist, ScholarRussiaEurope and Central AsiaA historian who researched Stalinist atrocities and head of the Karelia branch of the human rights organization Memorial, Dmitriev was imprisoned on baseless charges of sexual assault. On September 29, 2020, prosecutors appealed his prior acquittals in a backdoor trial, resulting in a 13 year sentence. In December 2021, this…
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ImprisonedSvetlana Petriychuk
DramatistRussiaEurope and Central AsiaPlaywright Svetlana Petriychuk was detained in May 2023 for writing the play Finist, the Bright Falcon. She was accused alongside the play’s director, Zhenya Berkovich, of “justifying terrorism” in their play, which was about women who meet jihadists on the internet to go to Syria. Following several delays and detention…
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ImprisonedZhenya Berkovich
Creative artist, PoetRussiaEurope and Central AsiaTheater director and poet Zhenya Berkovich was detained for allegedly “justifying terrorism” in her play Finist, the Bright Falcon. She was arrested along with Svetlana Petriychuk on May 4, 2023 and held in extended pre-trial detention. The play was about women who meet jihadists on the internet to go to…
Writers at Risk Database Key:
STATUS box that is red: Active case
STATUS box that is black: Inactive case
Funder
PEN America is deeply grateful to the John Templeton Foundation for its generous support of the Freedom to Write Index and Writers at Risk Database.
Partner
PEN America thanks the PEN International Secretariat and the Writers in Prison Committee for their extensive contributions to and collaboration on compiling the cases included in this database.