Nasta Karnackaja

Nasta Karnackaja is a literary critic and columnist who runs the Telegram channel “Bellit” where she publishes book reviews and commentary. In May 2022, she assisted with the… More

Somyot Prueksakasemsuk

Somyot Prueksakasemsuk

Magazine editor and activist Somyot was arrested on October 16, 2020 for sedition for his involvement in the September 2020 pro-democracy demonstrations. He was again detained in February 2021… More

Olga Shparaga

Olga Shparaga

On October 4, 2020, philospher and writer Shparaga was detained for one day during a protest; but five days later, she was detained at Savecki district police department when… More

Mohammed Saud Al-Bishr

Al-Bishr, a professor and commentator on politics and religion, was arrested in October 2017. Human rights monitors report that he was arrested for commenting on excessive censorship in media.… More

Writers at Risk Database

Abraham Serfaty

Political dissident and editor of the literary magazine Souffles, Serfaty endured 17 years of imprisonment and 13 years of exile for his political views. His Moroccan citizenship was revoked… More

Haji Mirzahid Kerimi

Kerimi, former Kashgar Publishing House staff, was arrested and detained for his role in publishing books deemed “problematic” for their “improper” political content, and was handed an 11-year sentence.… More

Abliz Ömer

Ömer, a retired editor-in-chief, was arrested and detained in a sweep of staff at Uyghur-run Kashgar Publishing House in 2017 after the Chinese government declared that its books contained… More

Wahitjan Osman

Osman was arrested without charge in 2018 and is currently detained in one of the many Uyghur re-education camps. There is no known date set for his trial; others… More

Ablajan Siyit

Siyit, the deputy editor-in-chief of the Uyghur-run Kashgar Publishing House, was detained in a sweep of arrests in 2018 for his role in the publication of books deemed “problematic”… More

Yasin Zilal

Yasin Zilal is a poet and the editor of Tarim, a monthly Uyghur literary magazine. In 2018, Zilal was arrested without charge and detained in a concentration camp as… More