Writers at Risk Database

Nguyen Huu Vinh Anh Ba Sam

A former police officer, Vinh founded a popular blog dedicated to criticism of the government and circumvention of its internet firewall. In 2014, he was arrested for “baseless” and… More

Maykel Castillo Perez

Maykel Castillo Pérez El Osorbo

Pérez has faced harassment for his activism, including police beatings and repeated arbitrary detentions since 2018. He was arrested in May 2021 for co-writing “Patria y Vida,” a Grammy-winning… More

Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir

Mohamed Cheikh ould Mohamed Mkhaïtir

In 2014, Mkhaïtr was sentenced to death for writing an article, in which he argued that Muaritania's caste system was not justified by the teachings of the prophet Mohammed.… More

Writers at Risk Database

Jordi Cuixart

Cuixart is a Catalan poet who advocates for the region’s independence. In October 2019, Cuixart, already detained, received a nine-year prison sentence and ban on holding office for sedition.… More

Writers at Risk Database

Jordi Sànchez

Sànchez is a Catalan writer who advocates for the region’s independence. In October 2019, Sànchez, already detained, received a nine-year prison sentence and a ban on holding office for… More

Gulmira Imin

Gulmira Imin, a poet and Uyghur-language website moderator from China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2010 for “splittism, leaking state secrets, and organizing an… More

Writers at Risk Database

Nasrin Sotoudeh

A human rights lawyer and prominent voice of conscience, Sotoudeh was rearrested and beaten in October 2023 while attending a funeral of a slain teenage girl. She had been… More

Durai Guna Gunasekaran

Guna, a Dalit rights writer-activist, was detained in September 2019 for putting up “defamatory” signs inviting replacements for apathetic government officials. He was arrested again in September 2020 for… More

Yang Hengjun

Yang Hengjun

Chinese-born Australian writer Yang was seized by Chinese authorities during a visit to China in January 2019. Held incommunicado and interrogated for nearly two years, he was formally charged… More