Thumar Al-Marzouqi

Al-Marzouqi was seized in a home raid during a wave of arrests in April 2019, in what some believe was a crackdown on individuals supporting women’s rights in the… More

Nassima Al-Sadah

Al-Sadah is a columnist whose writing questioned the male guardianship system and advocated for greater rights for women, including the right to drive. In late August 2018, Al-Sadah was… More

Writers at Risk Database

Alexey Kungurov

Siberian blogger Kungurov, who spent two years in prison for "justification of terrorism" from 2016-18, was arrested again in November 2019 for 15 days. He was accused of arousing… More

Nizametdin Akhmetov

Poet and the first PEN Freedom to Write honoree, Akhmetov was arrested in 1966 on fabricated charges of theft for association with a movement advocating for the return of… More

Writers at Risk Database

Nouf Abdulaziz

Columnist and women’s rights activist Abdulaziz was arrested and detained in June 2018. While in detention, she was reportedly tortured and sexually harassed. In February 2021, after prolonged delays… More

Writers at Risk Database

Waleed Abu Al-Khair

Al-Khair was the first activist prosecuted under a new Saudi Arabian law that introduced overly broad definitions of terrorism, such that it applies to speech. In June 2014, he… More

Writers at Risk Database

Eman Al-Nafjan

Columnist Al-Nafjan was detained in May 2018 in relation to her women's rights advocacy. While in prison, she was reportedly sexually harassed and severly beaten. She was granted temporary… More

Raif Badawi

Raif Badawi

Badawi was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for “insulting Islam” and “founding a liberal website,” Free Saudi Liberals. While detained, he… More

Writers at Risk Database

Stanislav Dmitrievsky

In December 2012, a petition was filed against writer Dmitrievsky alleging his study on Chechnya was “extremist” in nature. In 2013, after expert evaluation of the study, the petition… More

Writers at Risk Database

Natalia Estemirova

In July 2009, journalist and human rights defender Estemirova was abducted by four gunmen on her way to work in Grozny, Chechnya. She was found dead in woodlands near… More