Warsame Shire Awale
Poet, playwright, radio actor, and singer-songwriter Awale was shot near his house in Mogadishu in October 2012. He had received threats for comments he made about gunmen targeting civilians,… More
Naema Ahmed Ibrahim
Ibrahim, a poet, was arrested without charge in January 2018, and held incommunicado at the Central Police Station. In March, she was charged with “bringing the nation or the… More
Abdirahman Ibrahim Adan Abdirahman Abees
Adan, a poet in Somaliland, was arrested on January 12, 2019 after publicly reciting a poem the previous day in which he called on the Somaliland government to reform… More
Jacques Pauw
In 2017, the State Security Agency (SSA) threatened legal action and issued a cease and desist order against writer and journalist Pauw for his book The President’s Keepers: Those… More
Matsemela Manaka
Manaka was an artist, poet, and playwright who was honored with the first PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award in 1987, and funded a playwright workshop for young authors… More
Kitzito Mihigo
A musician, Mihigo was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly plotting to kill President Paul Kagame and for inciting hate against the government. He was… More
Godwin Agbroko
Agbroko, editorial board chairman of This Day and longtime news editor was arrested for his work in 1995 and 1996. He was released in 1997 within weeks of receiving… More
Chido Onumah
Author, human rights activist, and journalist Onumah was briefly arrested and detained by the Nigerian Department of State Security (DSS) in September 2019 without explanation of the offense. He… More
Ogaga Ifowodo
Poet Ifowodo was arrested in November 1997 returning from the Commonwealth Summit in Scotland, where he appealed for stronger sanctions against then-President Sani Abacha. He was held in solitary… 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
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