Omar Shiboba ShiBoBa
A rapper and songwriter, Shaiboba 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
In Letter to President Biden, 44 Noted Writers Urge Him to Raise Human Rights Abuses Directly with the Crown Prince As He Travels to Saudi Arabia
44 writers and journalists joined PEN America in urging President Biden to raise his Administration’s concerns about the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia during his conversations with Crown… More
Letter Signed by 44 Writers Calls On President Biden to Raise Grave Human Rights Concerns on Trip to Saudi Arabia
President Joseph Biden The White House Washington, DC July 5, 2022 Dear President Biden, We the undersigned writers, journalists, creative artists, and supporters of PEN America, are writing to urge you to raise your… More
Ali Al-Domaini | Status: Deceased | 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
PEN America 2021 Freedom to Write Index: Myanmar Joins China and Saudi Arabia as World’s Top Jailers of Writers
During 2021, Myanmar accounted for the single-largest increase of writers and public intellectuals newly jailed for exercising free expression, due to the military junta’s crackdown on influential voices. More
Saud Al-Sarhan
A researcher and columnist whose published works include political commentary on Saudi political, economic, and social issues, Al-Sarhan went missing in October 2021 after writing an article that acknowledged… More
Support for the freedom to read with exclusive designs by Todd Parr, Mike Curato, Art Spiegelman, and more!
