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
DetainedDidier Nusbaumer
Creative artist, JournalistMyanmarAsia-PacificDidier Nusbaumer is a Swiss filmmaker and screenwriter who wrote, filmed, and edited “Don’t Expect Anything,” a film that challenged the traditional depiction of Buddhist monks. On August 8, 2023, Nusbaumer, alongside 13 Myanmar nationals, was arrested for defaming Buddhism. The locations in which these individuals are being held remain…
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ImprisonedWai Moe Naing
Activist, Journalist, Literary writerMyanmarAsia-PacificA writer and member of PEN Myanmar, Wai Moe Naing rose to prominence as an anti-coup protest leader in Monywa for his role in organizing daily demonstrations. On April 15, 2021, he was beaten, arrested, and detained, and was handed down sentences in both August and October 2022. On April…
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Conditional ReleaseAung San Suu Kyi
Activist, Literary writerMyanmarAsia-PacificMyanmar’s ousted political leader Aung San Suu Kyi, previously a key figure in the country’s democratic transition and one of the most prominent political prisoners, was formerly detained under house arrest for 15 years and is now detained again after the February 2021 coup. She faces decades in prison for…
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ReleasedTint San
JournalistMyanmarAsia-PacificTint San was arrested with four other employees of the Unity newspaper after it published an exposé about an alleged secret chemical weapons factory. The ‘Unity Five’ were sentenced to seven years in prison in 2014, but were released in 2016 by a presidential amnesty.
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ImprisonedAung Naing Myint
Literary writerMyanmarAsia-PacificAung Naing Myint, a novelist from Panmaw village and the author of Maya Kin Mae Zone (written under the pen name Min Di Par), was previously arrested for his writing. He was detained again on October 15, 2021, under allegations of being connected to the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), a…
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Custodial/Wrongful DeathKhet Thi
PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificKhet Thi, a retired junior engineer and active participant in anti-junta protests in Myanmar, was known for his dissident poems. On May 8, 2021, he was arrested at his home and taken to an undisclosed location. Khet Thi died in custody on May 9, 2021, after police interrogations. His body…
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ReleasedMyo Tazar Maung
Poet, TranslatorMyanmarAsia-PacificPoet, translator, and teacher Myo Tazar Maung was arrested on September 20, 2021, after he posted on Facebook expressing criticism regarding the military government. He was charged with Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, which criminalizes speech that “is likely to cause fear or alarm in the public,” and was…
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ReleasedHtin Lin Oo
Activist, Literary writerMyanmarAsia-PacificHtin Lin Oo, a former political prisoner, was first detained in December 2014 and charged with “insulting religion.” In the first hours of the military coup in February 2021 he was detained again. On February 22, 2022, he was sentenced to three years in prison under Section 505(a) for “incitement”…
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ImprisonedBo Bo Htoo
Activist, Literary writer, Online Commentator, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificBo Bo Htoo, a poet and literary writer from Pyin Ma Nar, was arrested by Myanmar’s military authorities on November 15, 2021 at his home. Initially, he was sent to an interrogation camp before being sentenced to two years in prison on July 10, 2022. Despite reports suggesting that he…
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.