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
ReleasedThan Tint
Creative artist, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificPoet Than Tint was arrested and detained on March 27, 2021 while taking part in a protest led by poets on Pansodan Road in downtown Yangon. During these protests, poets took part in readings and sold poems and art to oppose the February 1 military coup. The protests represented a…
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DetainedNgar Min Swe
Journalist, Online CommentatorMyanmarAsia-PacificNgar Min Swe was serving a seven-year prison sentence for “inciting hatred against the government,” stemming from Facebook posts and critical news articles about Aung San Suu Kyi. Released after the February 2021 coup, he has more recently spoken at pro-junta rallies and expressed support for the miitary online. On…
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ReleasedAung Myint
Activist, Journalist, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificAung Myint, prolific writer and National League for Democracy (NLD) party member, was arrested for distributing information to the international press about the repression of the NLD. Originally sentenced to 21 years in prison in 2000, he was released in 2005.
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Conditional ReleaseZarganar
Activist, Creative artist, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificOn April 6, 2021, comedian Zarganar was arrested by the military junta in a broader campaign against cultural figures following the February 2021 military coup. He was released conditionally on October 18, 2021 after over six months in arbitrary detention. A decade earlier, in 2011, Zarganar was released under a…
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ReleasedDaw Khin Than Wai
PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificPoet Daw Khin Than Wai, also known by her pen name Wa Thone Dray, was arrested on March 27, 2021, while participating in a peaceful protest organized by poets on Pansodan Road in downtown Yangon. The demonstration was part of a broader cultural resistance movement against Myanmar’s February 1 military…
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ReleasedThan Myint Aung
Activist, Literary writerMyanmarAsia-PacificThan Myint Aung is a novelist, short story writer, and philanthropist known for her writing on societal issues and literary speeches. In the early hours of the 2021 coup, she was arrested from her home and charged with “incitement.” In December 2021, she was sentenced to three years in prison,…
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DetainedPaing Pyo Min
Creative artist, Online Commentator, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificPaing Pyo Min, a member of the Peacock Generation satirical poetry troupe that specializes in the traditional art form of Thangyat, a type of slam poetry, was sentenced to four years in prison for mocking the military in a performance that was also streamed online. In a wave of pardons…
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ReleasedNay Phone Latt
Online Commentator, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificNay Phone Latt, whose blog had been praised by the BBC for publishing trustworthy news, was arrested in February 2008 and sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison in a closed-door trial without a lawyer for ‘disrupting morality.’ He was released under an amnesty in 2012 and later…
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ReleasedZaw Lin Htut
Creative artist, Online Commentator, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificZaw Lin Htut is a member of the Peacock Generation satirical poetry troupe that specializes in the traditional art form of Thangyat, a type of slam poetry. In December 2021, he was arrested by military officers while on his way to a protest. He was sentenced to three years in…
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.