Writers at Risk Database

Mahmoud Zeid Shawkan

Shawkan was arrested while taking photos of the Rabaa Massacre in August 2013 and initially faced the death penalty due to a slew of arbitrary charges. While he was… More

Ibrahim Al-Husseini

Ibrahim Al-Husseini

In December 2018, Al-Husseini was arrested on charges of "inciting protests" for social media posts criticizing authoritarian rule and religious extremism in Egypt. He was released on bail in… More

Hesham Gaafar

Hesham Gaafar

Gaafar was detained without warrant in October 2015 for suspected involvement with the banned Muslim Brotherhood. He was held for 41 months in pretrial detention, often under prolonged solitary… More

Writers at Risk Database

Iminjan Seydin

Uyghur historian and publisher Seydin disappeared in 2017 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for “inciting extremism” in late 2019, likely for his involvement in publishing an… More

Druklo Shokjang

Druklo Shokjang

Shokjang was arrested in 2015 and sentenced to three years in prison for inciting separatism, evidenced by his blog posts about police violence and possession of pro-Tibet books, according… More

Writers at Risk Database

Kunchok Tsephel Gopey Tsang

Founder of Tibetan literary website Chomei, Kunchok Tsephel was arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for disclosing state secrets; though, the precise reasons for the… More

Xu Zhangrun

While under house arrest for penning an essay in February 2020 regarding China’s repressive response to COVID-19, Xu was detained on July 6 on spurious charges but released six… More

Sun Wenguang

Sun Wenguang

Retired academic Sun was arrested from his home during a phone interview with Voice of America in August 2018. Before the interview was cut off he reportedly said, “I… More

Chen Wei

Chen was detained in 2011 for essays in which he supported a civil society and criticized the Chinese political system. In February 2020, Chen was released upon completion of… More

Li Bifeng

In 2012, Li was convicted of contract fraud, though it is likely that he was targeted in retaliation for his peaceful activism and links with exiled writers. On April… More