Saudi Arabia Among World’s Most Repressive Countries for Free Expression, with 20 Writers Jailed and Others Facing Persecution
Justin Shilad, PEN America’s research and advocacy lead for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “Saudi Arabia’s continued presence in the PEN America Freedom to Write index points… More
Khalid Al-Alkami
Al-Alkami is an online commentator and blogger who posted negative tweets about austerity in Saudi Arabia. He was arrested on September 12, 2017, right after a McKinsey report that… More
Ziyad Al-Sofiani
Al-Sofiani was a high ranking Wikipedia volunteer administrator with privileged access to edit protected pages. He was detained in 2020 and sentenced to 8 years in prison. It was… More
Turki Al-Jasser
Al-Jasser is a blogger, who often wrote on politics, social issues, and religion between 2013 & 2015; including women's status in islam and the uprising in Egypt. He was… More
Osama Khaled
Osama Khaled was a high ranking Wikipedia volunteer administrator with privileged access to edit protected pages. He was detained in 2020 and sentenced to 5 years of prison which… More
Omar Shiboba ShiBoBa
A rapper and songwriter, Shiboba was arrested in March 2022 for his songs that he had described as revolutionary and which were critical of the Kingdom and ruling authorities,… More
Abdullah Jelan
Jelan is an online commentator who went to graduate school in the U.S.; upon his return to Saudi Arabia, he spent months looking for a job. After he was… More
Jamal Khashoggi | Status: Murdered | Saudi Arabia
Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist who had been exiled in the U.S. since mid-2017, disappeared while visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on October 2, 2018; … More
“Deeply Disappointing” That Biden Administration is Shielding Saudi Crown Prince from Accountibility in Murder of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi
"After promises of seeking justice for Jamal Khashoggi's murder, it is deeply disappointing to see the Biden Administration take the voluntary step of shielding Mohamed bin Salman from accountability for this egregious… More
PEN America Condemns “Grotesque” Sentencing of Saudi Student to 34 Years in Prison for Her Tweets
PEN America condemns the imprisonment of Salma Al-Shehab, who was sentenced to 34 years in prison for her Twitter activity. More
Alert Us
Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?