Mustafa Erkan Acar

Acar, an author and editor for Zaman, a newspaper forced to close after the failed 2016 coup, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison in 2018 after a mass… More

Bayram Kaya

Kaya, who exposed the complicity of the Turkish intelligence service in the murder of journalist Hrant Dink, was detained in a sweep of journalists following the failed 2016 coup.… More

Abdullah Kılıç

Police detained Kılıç in July 2016 in the direct aftermath of the failed coup against the government of President Erdogan. Kılıç, a columnist, was accused of being a follower… More

Writers at Risk Database

Bülent Şık

A writer, food engineer, and environmental activist, Şık was indicted in 2018 after he wrote articles discussing the results of a government study of pollution. In 2019, he was… More

Emre Soncan

Foreign military affairs correspondent and author Soncan was arrested in a purge of suspected followers of exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen, who was blamed for the July 2016 attempted coup.… More

Writers at Risk Database

Andy Hall

A UK national, labor activist, researcher, and writer Hall was tried in 2013 for both criminal and civil defamation for his investigative reports alleging abuse by National Fruit Company… More

Writers at Risk Database

Mohammed Abbou

In March 2005, writer, lawyer, and human rights activist Abbou was arrested for an article published nine months earlier denouncing torture in Tunisia. He was released in July 2007,… More

Writers at Risk Database

Necmiye Alpay

Alpay was detained following the 2016 coup attempt for her connection to pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem. After four months in detention, she was conditionally released in December 2016. She… More

Writers at Risk Database

Zehra Doğan

In July 2016, Doğan was arrested for creating a painting of Turkish city Nusaybin bombarded by state security forces. In 2017, she was sentenced to nearly three years in… More

Yasir Elsir Ali

Human rights defender Ali was shot by a sniper while at a December 2018 protest in Khartoum. The bullet punctured his lung and is resting in his spinal cord.… More