Pramoedya Ananta Toer
Famous anti-colonial author Pramoedya was imprisoned twice for his writings, first by the Dutch from 1947-1949 and later by the authoritarian Suharto regime from 1965-1979. While in prison, he… More
Akbar Ganji
Described as one of Iran's leading political dissidents, Ganji's writings are banned in the country. Ganji was imprisoned from 2001-2006 for participation in an academic conference and investigations into… More
Narges Mohammadi
Mohammadi, jailed relentlessly by authorities for her writing and advocacy, was freed in 2020, but in May 2021 was again sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and 80 lashes.… More
Baktash Abtin
Poet and filmmaker Abtin, with two other board members of the Iranian Writers Association, was convicted in 2019 for opposing state censorship policies. Abtin's six-year prison sentence was upheld,… More
Kameel Ahmady
Ahmady has written about female genital mutilation and child marriage in Iran and was arrested in 2019. He was arbitrarily detained for 100 days, then released conditionally. In December… More
Keyvan Bajan
Novelist-journalist Bajan was imprisoned on September 27, 2020 and sentenced to three-and-a-half years for his peaceful opposition of state censorship, leadership of the Iranian Writers’ Association, and commemoration of… More
Arash Ganji
Ganji, a writer, translator, and secretary of the Iranian Writers Association, was detained for 29 days in late 2019. He was sentenced in 2020 to 11 years in prison… More
Reza Khandan Mahabadi
Khandan Mahabadi, with two other members of the Iranian Writers’ Association, was arrested in May 2019 for opposing state censorship. An appeals judge upheld his six-year sentence, and the… More
Roland Marchal
French sociologist Dr. Marchal was detained in June 2019 when he traveled to Iran to visit his colleague Dr. Fariba Adelkhah. Both were charged with “collusion against national security”… More
Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee
Iraee was first sentenced to six years in prison in 2014 on charges related to an unpublished short story criticizing the practice of stoning. Released in April 2019, she… More