Munawar Faruqui
Faruqui was arrested on January 2, 2021 on allegations that he had made indecent remarks about Hindu deities in a comedy routine he never performed—police officials later admitted the… More
Artists at Risk Connection Releases New Podcast, ‘Creating Artistic Resilience: Voices of Asia’
In a limited-run podcast Creating Artistic Resilience: Voices of Asia from PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection, five artists and cultural rights defenders from Myanmar, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the… More
Threats to Participants in Hindu Nationalism Conference Risk Silencing Academic Freedom
PEN America condemns this campaign of intimidation and retaliation against writers and public intellectuals, and supports their rights to free expression and freedom of academic thought and inquiry. More
Spy Software Used to Track Journalists, Activists is Direct Threat to Free Expression Worldwide
Sophisticated software purportedly designed to track international criminals and terrorists has been deployed to hack the smartphones of journalists, advocates, and human rights activists around the world. More
PEN America Condemns Indian Government Attempts to Block COVID Criticism
PEN America today condemned the Indian government’s attempts to stifle free expression by censoring social media posts amid the country’s battle with a massive surge in COVID-19 cases. More
Apoorvanand Jha
On August 3, 2020, Jha, a Hindi professor known for his criticism of the Indian government's passing of the controversial 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act, was questioned for five hours… More
Sudha Bharadwaj
On August 28, 2018 Bharadwaj’s house was raided, and she was detained for ‘inciting violence’ as part of a coordinated series of politically-motivated arrests of activists in the Bhima-Koregaon… More
Durai Guna Gunasekaran
Guna, a Dalit rights writer-activist, was detained in September 2019 for putting up “defamatory” signs inviting replacements for apathetic government officials. He was arrested again in September 2020 for… More
Vairamuthu Ramasamay Viaramuthu
Tamil poet and lyricist Viaramuthu was the target of protest in 2018 after he made comments linking the 7th century female mystic poet Andal to the Devadasi community, which… More
Resignation of Two Professors Highlights Growing Academic Freedom Crisis in India
Two professors at an Indian university resigned from their posts this month under apparent political pressure. More
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Consultants for Florida Power & Light, the largest electric utility in the US, conducted surveillance on a Jacksonville journalist. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/24/a-florida-power-company-didnt-like-a-journalists-commentary-its-consultants-had-him-followed?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
#CUBA: PEN International, @PENamerica and @PENCubaExilio condemn “cruel and inhumane” prison sentences imposed without “legal merit” on Cuban artist-activists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo Pérez: https://pen-international.org/news/prison-sentences-for-luis-manuel-and-maykel-osorbo-condemned @PEN_LAC
