PEN America Calls for the Immediate Acquittal and Release of Mongolian Activist Munkhbayar Chuluundorj Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Protesting China-Mongolia Relations
“The harsh and unjust verdict in Munkhbayar Chuluundorj’s trial is a grave violation of the fundamental right to free expression,” says Liesl Gerntholtz, director of the PEN/Barbey Freedom to… More
China: PEN Centers Call for Xu Zhiyong’s Immediate Release
PEN America, PEN International, and the Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC) call on the Chinese government release Xu Zhiyong. More
PEN America 2021 Freedom to Write Index: Myanmar Joins China and Saudi Arabia as World’s Top Jailers of Writers
During 2021, Myanmar accounted for the single-largest increase of writers and public intellectuals newly jailed for exercising free expression, due to the military junta’s crackdown on influential voices. More
PEN America Reacts with Alarm to News of Intimidation of Chinese Dissidents in U.S.
Human rights groups and expert commentators have increasingly warned that authoritarian governments, with China as a prominent example, have increasingly rolled out new and expanded tactics of trans-national repression.… More
The PEN Pod: A Reflection on Free Speech in 2021 with Suzanne Nossel
“Perhaps never before in our public discourse. . . has there been a moment where issues of free expression. . . have been more salient to our politics.” More
Chinese Authorities Poised to Put Activists Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi On Trial, PEN America and China Human Rights Defenders Warn
Chinese authorities may use the lull around the Christmas and New Year’s holidays to subject prominent human rights defenders to unfair trials while much of the international community is… More
The PEN Pod: On Self-Censorship, Book Bans, and Biden’s Virtual Democracy Summit
“Students are really crucial allies. They have, I think, an instinctive sense of not wanting to be told what they can and can’t read.” More
The PEN Pod: On Peng Shuai, Critical Race Theory Taboos, and Simpsons Censorship
“It’s just this very palpable way in which the pressure is being felt at every level. . . from top administrators to individual professors who are being put under… More
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PEN America On 
We are relieved to see writer #AnandTeltumbde released on bail in India after 31 months in pre-trial detention for his #FreedomToWrite. He should never have been jailed in the first place.
https://scroll.in/article/1038464/will-the-bail-granted-to-anand-teltumbde-help-others-in-the-bhima-koregaon-case-to-get-out-of-jail
Digital rights in #Vietnam are declining as a new system of surveillance and control has emerged in the country, with the support of Western tech giants. https://thediplomat.com/2022/11/the-quiet-evolution-of-vietnams-digital-authoritarianism/
We welcome the establishment of an international fact-finding mission to investigate reported human rights abuses in Iran since protests against the death of #MahsaAmini. We urge the mission to pay close attention to targeted arrests of writers and #FreeExpression violations.