Abdel-Rahman Mekled
Mekled was arrested in August 2017 as part of a group of journalists and writers who had criticized the Egyptian government's decision to renounce its claim on several Red… More
Abdel-Halim Qandil
A prolific journalist whose work has been censored many times in the past decade, Qandil was jailed in December 2017 for comments he made in a TV interview criticizing… More
Medhat Safwat
Sawfat, who has written critically about fundamentalist groups’ strict interpretation of Islam, has faced verbal abuse and intimidation after each piece he has written. He was also formally admonished… More
Léster Luis González Pentón
González, co-founder of the Movement for Democracy, was arrested in a 2003 roundup of dissidents known as the Black Spring and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was… More
Raúl Rivero
Rivero was arrested in a 2003 roundup of dissidents known as the Black Spring and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was released in 2010 after multilateral talks… More
Nedim Yasar
On November 20, 2018, Yasar died after he was shot leaving the launch of his memoir Roots on his life as the founder of a gang who left in… More
Fernando Villavicencio
In April 2017, Villavicencio, a journalist and author, sought asylum in Peru due to threats against him and his family, and a pre-trial detention order alleging he leaked documents… More
Ahmed Naji
Charged with ‘violating public modesty’ for sexual content in his novel The Use of Life, Naji served 10 months in prison in 2016. After a prolonged legal battle during… More
Fatima Naoot
Long famous for her politically-charged poetry, Naoot was sentenced to three years in prison in 2016 for defaming Islam in a Facebook post critical of the Eid al-Adha tradition… More
Francis Sánchez Rodríguez
A prolific author and founder of a magazine seen as a platform for free expression in Cuba, Sánchez faced government harassment and intimidation for decades in connection with his… More