Rights Groups to Iran: Drop charges against human rights activist Hossein Ronaghi
PEN America joins human rights groups in calling on Iranian authorities to drop charges against writer-activist Hossein Ronaghi. More
PEN America Celebrates Release of Aras Amiri
PEN America celebrated the acquittal and release of Iranian art curator Aras Amiri, who was serving a 10-year sentence after being arrested during a visit to Iran in 2018… More
PEN America, Joined by PEN Sydney and PEN Melbourne, Mourns Baktash Abtin’s Death in Solidarity with the Iranian Writers’ Association and Abtin’s Family
Following the devastating death of prominent Iranian poet, filmmaker, free expression advocate, and 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write honoree Baktash Abtin in state custody from COVID-19 contracted at Tehran’s… More
PEN America Mourns “Utterly Preventable Death” of Baktash Abtin
(New York, NY) — Imprisoned Iranian poet, filmmaker, and recipient of the 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award Baktash Abtin died in a Tehran hospital, succumbing to COVID-19. “Our worst… More
Iran Must Release those Unjustly Detained and Not Deny Medical Care to Prisoners, Says Coalition of Organizations led by PEN America
Today PEN America and eighteen other prominent human rights organizations sent a letter to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of… More
PEN America Calls for Release of Writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija
On December 28, 2021, award-winning writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was detained by Ugandan security forces and taken into unlawful detention without charges or explanation. More
Open Letter to Supreme Leader of Iran on Baktash Abtin
PEN America and its allies call on the Supreme Leader of Iran to urgently release filmmaker and poet Baktash Abtin and all unjustly detained for their writing or expression. More
PEN America Calls for Release of Ukrainian Theater Director Yevhen Lavrenchuk
PEN America called for the immediate release of Ukrainian theater director Yevhen Lavrenchuk, who has been detained in Italy since December 17 following an extradition request to Interpol from… More
PEN America Condemns Internet Shutdown in Kazakhstan
“This blackout is a blatant attack on freedom of expression by the government of Kazakhstan,'' said Polina Sadovskaya, PEN America’s Eurasia director. More
PEN America Demands Release of Baktash Abtin
After contracting COVID-19 in prison for a second time, 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write honoree Baktash Abtin is now in a medically-induced coma. More