Writers at Risk Database

Oleg Sentsov

After being arrested in Crimea, Ukrainian filmmaker was Sentsov given a 20-year sentence on terrorism charges in August 2015. Following five years in a Russian jail—including a hunger strike… More

Sadiq Usman Saleh Sadiq Zazzabi

Popular R&B singer Saleh received a court summons for a song he released that allegedly contained “immorality by featuring seductive dances;” Saleh claimed his arrest was political. He pled… More

Abdullah Habib

Abdullah Habib

In recent years, writer and filmmaker Abdullah Habib has been subjected to multiple detentions for his criticism of the Omani government and controversial online statements on religion. Most recently,… 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

Mohammed Hanif

Mohammed Hanif

In December 2019, the son of former president General Zia ul Haq filed a defamation notice against Hanif, citing Hanif's satirical novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes. The book's… More

Abbad Yahya

Abbad Yahya

Yahya’s novel ‘Crime in Ramallah,’ which contains themes of politics, homosexuality, and religion, was ordered confiscated and banned in 2017. After an investigation was launched Yahya received death threats… More

Nelson Aguilera

Nelson Aguilera

PEN Paraguay member, writer, and author of children’s books Aguilera was convicted of plagiarism in November 2013, following accusations made by Maria Garay in 2010 that he plagiarized her… More

Writers at Risk Database

Tomasz Piątek

Journalist and writer Piątek faced potential criminal charges for a book published in June 2017, which examines the links between Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz and the Russian military intelligence… More

Writers at Risk Database

Wojciech Sadurski

Scholar and writer Sadurski faces three defamation suits for tweets he sent in 2018 criticizing Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) and public broadcaster TVP, calling the PiS… More

Writers at Risk Database

Mohammed Al-Ajami

Poet Al-Ajami was convicted in November 2012 for “inciting the overthrow of the ruling regime” and “criticizing the Emir” in two of his poems. He was sentenced to life… More