Meral Şimşek

Meral Şimşek

Şimşek is a Kurdish writer targeted for her poetry and other writings. She faces multiple trials on spurious “terrorism” charges. In June 2021, she was detained while trying to… More

Erk Acarer

Acarer is a Turkish columnist and author who has been living in exile in Berlin since 2017. On July 7, 2021, he was attacked outside of his home by… More

Ramón Eusebio López Díaz El Invasor

Known for his dissident writing in his songs and online, rapper Ramón Eusebio López Díaz livestreamed his arrest on June 18, 2021, as police broke into his house following… More

Dr. Stella Nyanzi

Stella Nyanzi | Status: Displaced/In Exile | Uganda

Jump to: Case Background Case Updates In Their Words Dr. Stella Nyanzi, a Ugandan medical anthropologist, activist, and writer, was convicted after writing and posting a poem online, in which she criticized Ugandan… More

Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir

Mohamed Cheikh ould Mohamed Mkhaïtir

In 2014, Mkhaïtr was sentenced to death for writing an article, in which he argued that Muaritania's caste system was not justified by the teachings of the prophet Mohammed.… More

Ihar Bancer

Bancer, lyricist and frontman for band Mister X, was detained in October 2020 for his partially nude protest in front of police. He was charged with hooliganism, likely due… More

Nejat Bahrami

Nejat Bahrami

Bahrami is a freelance columnist who writes political, economic, and cultural commentary. In May 2020, one year after he was convicted, a court summoned him to begin his one-year… More

Ruslan Kulevich

Journalist and author Kulevich was brutally detained by police at a protest. He was beaten, both of his arms were broken, and he was sentenced to seven days in… More

Yury Stylski

In August 2020, Stylski, lyricist and leader of a black-listed band ‘Daj Dorogu,’ attended a peaceful rally in Brest with a loud-speaker and Belarusian flag. He was later detained… More

Denis Solís González

Solís González is a Cuban songwriter and rapper whose musical work critiques repression by the authorities. Solís was forcibly detained in November 2020 after he posted a video on… More