Faraj Ahmad Birqdar | Status: Released | Syria
Syrian poet Faraj Ahmad Birqdar spent over 13 years in jail from 1987 to 2000 due to his work on behalf of free expression and non-violent political action. He… More
Martha Kumsa | Status: Released | Ethiopia
Ethiopian writer and journalist Martha Kumsa was released from prison after several years of detention without charge or trial a few months after she received the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom… More
Maina wa Kinyatti | Status: Released | Kenya
Kenyan writer and historian Maina wa Kinyatti was released on October 17, 1988, after serving six and a half years in prison, and fled to Tanzania fearing rearrest. After… More
San San Nwe | Status: Released | Myanmar
San San Nwe (pen name Tha-ya-wadi) , a widely-respected writer and one of the first trained female journalists in Myanmar, has a reputation for reporting on human rights abuses… More
Ogaga Ifowodo | Status: Released | Nigeria
Poet Ogaga Ifowodo was arrested around November 6, 1997 on his way home from the Commonwealth Summit in Edinburgh, where he and other activists appealed for stronger sanctions against… More
Eşber Yağmurdereli | Status: Released | Turkey
Blind playwright, poet, short story author, screenwriter, and lawyer, Eşber Yağmurdereli has been in and out of prison since 1978 and was the 1999 recipient of the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith… More
Flora Brovina | Status: Released | Kosovo
Born in 1949, Flora Brovina is a Kosovar-Albanian pediatrician, poet, and women’s rights activist. She was arrested on 20 April 1999, during the Kosovo War, and held in captivity in Serbia while NATO… More
Jack Mapanje | Status: Released | Malawi
Jack Mapanje is a poet and storyteller of exile narratives and political power structures. He was detained without charge or trial for over three years until his release in… More
Shahla Lahiji | Status: Released | Iran
The first woman to run a publishing house in Iran, Shahla Lahiji is one of 19 Iranian writers and intellectuals prosecuted in Tehran for participating in an academic and… More
Nizametdin Akhmetov | Status: Released | Russia
Nizametdin Akhmetov, a Bashkir poet, was sent to a labor camp at age 18. After 20 years of imprisonment in labor camps and psychiatric hospitals, Akhmetov was released on… More