Reza Khandan Mahabadi

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

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Iraee was first sentenced to six years in prison in 2014 on charges related to an unpublished short story criticizing the practice of stoning.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

Writers at Risk Database

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

Writers at Risk Database

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

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

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

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

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