Writers at Risk Database

Behrouz Boochani

Boochani, an Iranian writer, was detained in a refugee transit center in Papua New Guinea and faced harassment for his reporting on the human rights issues at the Manus… More

Ahmed Naji | Status: Displaced/In Exile | Egypt

Ahmed Naji was temporarily released from prison in Egypt on December 22, 2016, after his two-year prison sentence for “violating public modesty” was suspended by an appeals court on… More

Mbizo Chirasha

Writer and human rights activist Chirasha has faced multiple attacks, including kidnapping attempts and electrocution, and threats on his life for his work exposing corruption within the Zimbabwean government.… More

Selma Altın Grup Yorum

Altın sings in the activist collective and band Grup Yorum. Since the band’s inception, its critical songs have angered the Turkish government and members have faced serious threats. Altın… More

Writers at Risk Database

Tran Khai Thanh Thuy

Since 2006, Tran Khai Thanh Thuy faced violent threats and multiple brief detentions. In 2010, she was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for assault after… More

Writers at Risk Database

Doan Viet Hoat

Doan founded the Freedom Forum, a free speech discussion group, upon his release from a reeducation camp after 12 years. This led to his renewed arrest in 1990 and… More

Ho Van Hai Ho Hai, or DrHoHo

Blogger Ho Van Hai became well-known for criticizing Vietnam's one-party Communist rule. He spent over three years in prison for posting “anti-state propaganda” in support of protests following the… More

Tran Thi Nga Thuy Nga

In 2017, dissident blogger Tran Thi Nga was arrested on charges of spreading propaganda and ultimately imprisoned in highly abusive conditions. As part of an agreement to cut her… More

Writers at Risk Database

Ta Phong Tan

A police officer who began blogging to expose abuses of power, Ta was imprisoned in 2011 on anti-state propaganda charges. Her case sparked international activism and, in 2012, her… More