Toomaj Salehi
Rapper Toomaj was briefly arrested in September 2021. Denied legal representation, in January 2022 he was given a 6-month suspended sentence for “insulting leadership” and “propaganda.” He was arrested… More
Touraj Amini
Historian, researcher, and literary writer Touraj Amini was tried for “spreading propaganda against the state” and given a reduced sentence of six months in prison. While he was detained,… More
Yasin Qasemi Bajd
A member of the Sunni minority in Iran who writes on politics and religion, Yasin Qasemi Bajd was arrested and reportedly interrogated in February 2021 on a number of… More
Akbar Azad
Akbar Azad is a poet, activist, and journalist from Iran continuously targeted by authorities. First arrested after giving a speech for UNESCO in 2014, he has been detained and… More
Aram Fathi
Fathi, a Kurdish poet, writer, and activist, was arrested and taken to an unknown location on June 17, 2021, after the Iranian intelligence service conducted a raid on his… More
Marjan Davari
Marjan Davari was arrested on September 23, 2015 after translating a book about the Eckankar spiritual group, and faced multiple charges, including “corruption on earth.” Though she was sentenced… More
2021 Freedom to Write Honoree Keyvan Bajan Is Released from Prison in Iran After Nearly One And a Half Years
Iran is among the world’s most restrictive countries for freedom of expression. In 2020, PEN America found that Iran imprisoned the fourth-highest number of writers and public intellectuals in… More
Rights Groups to Iran: Drop charges against human rights activist Hossein Ronaghi
PEN America joins human rights groups in calling on Iranian authorities to drop charges against writer-activist Hossein Ronaghi. More
RIGHTS GROUPS APPEAL TO UN FOR RELEASE OF JAILED IRANIAN WRITERS
The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (RWCHR) and PEN America filed a complaint with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to hold Iran accountable for a pattern… More
PEN America Celebrates Release of Aras Amiri
PEN America celebrated the acquittal and release of Iranian art curator Aras Amiri, who was serving a 10-year sentence after being arrested during a visit to Iran in 2018… More
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