Waleed Abu Al-Khair
Al-Khair was the first activist prosecuted under a new Saudi Arabian law that introduced overly broad definitions of terrorism, such that it applies to speech. In June 2014, he… More
Raif Badawi
Badawi was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for “insulting Islam” and “founding a liberal website,” Free Saudi Liberals. While detained, he… More
Junaid Hafeez
Hafeez, a liberal academic, was arrested for blasphemy in 2013 and has been in solitary confinement since 2014. An Islamist group lodged the accusation against him to prevent his… More
Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi
Documentary filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, formerly detained for nearly a year for criticizing the military in his films and social media posts, was released in February 2020.… More
Htin Lin Oo
Htin Lin Oo, a former political prisoner, was detained in the first hours of the military coup in February 2021. On February 22, 2022, he was sentenced to three… More
Hesameddin Farzizadeh
Farzizadeh was arrested in 2013 after writing his book From Islam to Islam, which raises questions about Shi’a Islam. He was convicted of apostasy, which carries the death penalty,… More
Saeed Madani
Sociologist Madani was tried in 2013 on national security charges for involvement with opposition groups. After his 2016 release from prison, he was forced into internal exile. In January… 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
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
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