Writers at Risk Database
PEN America champions the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. The bedrock work of the global PEN network is advocacy and assistance on behalf of individuals persecuted for their use of the written word or other forms of expression. PEN America’s Writers at Risk Database is a searchable catalog of the writers, journalists, academics, public intellectuals and others under threat around the world. The database includes historical cases PEN America has worked on from 1987 onwards; non-active cases are color-coded black. PEN America is grateful to the John Templeton Foundation for support that enabled the establishment of the Writers at Risk Database and to PEN International for their collaboration in assembling this database.
Filters
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Status
Custodial/Wrongful DeathAbduhadi Kasheet
Journalist, Literary writerSyriaMiddle East and North AfricaWriter and journalist Abduhadi Kasheet was arrested in July 2013 by the Air Force Intelligence Branch in Aleppo. His death, initially reported in October 2013, was later confirmed by the Syrian government. Kasheet is among thousands of Syrian citizens who have been killed in detention. Kasheet was known for his…
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ConvictedAbolhassan Kamali
Online Commentator, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaPoet Abolhassan Kamali was given a four-month suspended sentence of two years seven months imprisonment at home with an electronic handcuff on charges of blasphemy and spreading lies. The court additionally required him to attend congregational prayers in the mosque as part of his sentence. His conviction cited posts on…
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On TrialAkram Aylisli
Dramatist, Literary writerAzerbaijanEurope and Central AsiaAylisi has been subject to a government-sanctioned public harassment campaign since the publication of his novella Stone Dreams in 2012. He is currently on trial for charges of ‘hooliganism’ and resisting arrest under Article 315.1 of the Criminal Code, which could lead to a prison sentence of up to three…
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Custodial/Wrongful DeathAmin El-Mahdy
Literary writer, Online Commentator, PublisherEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaEl-Mahdy, a writer and publisher, was arrested on September 9, 2020 because of a Facebook post calling the Egyptian president “a murderer, traitor, coward, and thief.” According to his lawyer, he faced 49 charges related to his publishing work, dating back 20 years. He was released on September 30, 2020…
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ImprisonedArtem Kamardin
PoetRussiaEurope and Central AsiaKamardin is a poet belonging to the Kabardian ethnic minority in Russia. He was beaten and violently raped by Russian authorities in September 2022 for his poetry readings during an anti Ukraine-war protest. He was forced to apologize on camera. He was later charged with “inciting hatred,” and was sentenced…
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Displaced/In ExileAslı Erdoğan
Journalist, Literary writerTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaNovelist and occasional columnist for pro-Kurdish Özgür Gündem, Aslı Erdoğan was detained after the 2016 coup attempt. Conditionally released four months later, she escaped to Germany. In February 2020, she was formally acquitted, but this was appealed in June. In February 2022, a court decided to uphold her acquittal. In…
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ReleasedBehrouz Yasemi
Online Commentator, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaOn October 17, 2022, Behrouz Yasemi, a Kurdish poet from Ivangharb, was arrested at his workplace in Tehran for unknown reasons shortly after posting a video in which he recited a poem about Mahsa Amini, the young woman whose custodial death sparked a series of 2022 protests both in Iran…
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MurderedChan Thar Swe
Activist, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificAfter spending over a year in prison for taking part in a 2015 rally for education reform, the activist and former Buddhist monk, known by his pen name K Zar Win, published his most well-known poetry collection, My Reply to Ramon. On March 3, 2021, he was killed at an…
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MurderedDawa Khan Menapal
JournalistAfghanistanAsia-PacificA former journalist and presidential spokesperson, Menapal worked as the head of the Afghan government’s Media and Information Center and sought to form ties with the journalist community. Menapal promoted media pluralism to challenge the Taliban’s propaganda. He was murdered by the militant group on August 6, 2021, one day…
Writers at Risk Database Key:
STATUS box that is red: Active case
STATUS box that is black: Inactive case
Funder
PEN America is deeply grateful to the John Templeton Foundation for its generous support of the Freedom to Write Index and Writers at Risk Database.
Partner
PEN America thanks the PEN International Secretariat and the Writers in Prison Committee for their extensive contributions to and collaboration on compiling the cases included in this database.