Liu Jingsheng | Status: Released | China
Liu Jingsheng is a peaceful opposition activist and a former co-editor of Tansuo (Explorations), a journal he founded in the late 1970s along with Wei Jingsheng. More
PEN America Joins Belarusian PEN Center in Call to End Persecution of Writer and Activist Paviel Sieviaryniec
The harassment of renowned writer Paviel Sievaryniec and his fellow activists in Belarus has gone on for too long, and his arrest this week is proof of the continuous threat to… More
Ahmed Naji | Status: Released | Egypt
Ahmed Naji was temporarily released from prison in Egypt on December 22, 2016, after his two-year prison sentence for “violating public modesty” was suspended by an appeals court on… More
Eskinder Nega | Status: Released | Ethiopia
Eskinder Nega, a journalist and dissident blogger who is one of Ethiopia’s leading advocates for press freedom and freedom of expression, served almost 7 years of an 18-year sentence… More
Yang Tongyan | Status: Deceased | China
A writer and member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, Yang Tongyan was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for “subversion of state power,” and died in November 2017 while… More
Ali Al-Domaini | Status: Released | Saudi Arabia
Ali Al-Domaini is a poet and writer whose publications include three collections of poetry and one novel in Arabic. As a political activist, he has campaigned for a move… More
Liu Xiaobo Must be Allowed to Seek Treatment Abroad
NEW YORK--In response to the statement from Western medical experts that it is safe to transport Liu Xiaobo abroad for cancer treatment, PEN America Executive Director Suzanne Nossel released… More
Dzamshid Karimov | Status: Released | Uzbekistan
Dzamshid Karimov is a journalist who was held in psychiatric detention for over a year. He is known for being an outspoken critic of the government, and for his… More
Egypt: In Wake of Legal Setback, PEN America Renews Call for Release of Ahmed Naji
NEW YORK—The denial this weekend of Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji’s motion to stay his two-year sentence perpetuates the injustice of punishing a writer for the exercise of free expression,… More
Letter from Khadija: Don’t let Azerbaijan use political prisoners as props
This is a letter written by Khadija Ismayilova from jail. It originally appeared in The Washington Post. Khadija Ismayilova is an investigative journalist and contributor to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s… More
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PEN America On 
In this op-ed, the @Zimindependent denounces a raft of laws put in place by President Emmerson Mnangagwa (@edmnangagwa) to combat the spread of COVID-19 as “draconian, excessive and maybe unconstitutional.” https://bit.ly/2JHwgFg
The European Federation of Journalists (@EFJEUROPE) is calling on media in #Kosovo to refrain from “intensifying tensions” during the health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. https://bit.ly/3dXAFC0
The ruling Chinese Communist Party has targeted thousands of people for speaking out about the coronavirus epidemic in the country since it began in late December in the central city of Wuhan, an overseas-based rights group has said. https://bit.ly/2XgnExs