Yevhen Bal

Yevhen Bal authored several books about the early years of war in Donbas, drawing on his experience as a retired naval captain in memoirs, and wrote about Russia’s invasion… More

Volodymyr Vakulenko

A renowned writer and activist, Vakulenko had also volunteered for the Ukrainian army since 2015. He and his son went missing on March 7, 2022, amidst Russia’s invasion of… More

Nizar Al-Banat

Al-Banat was a literary writer and a prominent human rights activist who was critical of the Palestinian Authority (PA) on social media. His home was attacked by PA forces… More

Kyaw Min Yu Ko Jimmy

Literary writer and prominent pro-democracy activist "Ko Jimmy," imprisoned multiple times previously, was charged over his Facebook posts in February 2021 and arrested in October; a military tribunal sentenced… More

Samira Ebrahimi

Ebrahimi is a blogger who wrote online commentary in support of the Iranian protests. According to IWAC, she was arrested on December 11, 2022. She was beaten severely and… More

Amin El-Mahdy

El-Mahdy, a writer and publisher, was arrested on September 9, 2020 because of a Facebook post calling the Egyptian President “a murderer, traitor, coward, and thief.” He was released… More

Ales Pushkin

Ales Pushkin

Ales Pushkin was a performance artist who used art to criticize and comment on politics. In August 2020, he was detained and beaten while en route to protest the… More

Mushtaq Ahmed

Writer Ahmed was arrested alongside ten people under the Digital Security Act for writing online about the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. After nearly 11 months in detention,… More

Writers at Risk Database Azimjon Askarov

Azimjon Askarov

Askarov died on July 25, 2020 after contracting pneumonia in Kyrgyz state custody. He was serving a life sentence for alleged involvement in ethnic violence, a charge understood as… More

Saleh Al-Shehi

In January 2018, Al-Shehi, a noted anti-corruption columnist critical of the government, was sentenced to 5 years in prison for “insulting the royal court.” He was released from prison… More