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.
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A blogger, democracy activist, and non-fiction author, Trang resigned from the Liberal Publishing House in July 2020, citing security threats. In October 2020, she was detained on charges of making anti-state propaganda under Article 117. In December 2021, she was sentenced to 9 years in prison following over a year…
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In November 2019, Phan Cong Hai was arrested for Facebook posts that were deemed “anti-state.” In a 2020 trial in which he did not have legal representation in court and that lasted only two hours, he was sentenced to a five-year prison term.
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Dissident poet, cartoonist, and satirical columnist Tuan was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to 5 years in prison in relation to his work criticizing the communist authorities for human rights violations. He was released into probationary detention in August 2016.
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Writer and artist Pierson Vilchez was one of three PEN Nicaragua members to be subjected to harassment through the circulation of an anonymous video which identified them as behind a terrorist conspiracy against the Nicaraguan government.
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Bhattacharya is a prolific writer and blogger who is a vocal critic of the Bangladeshi government. He went into hiding in 2018 after being summoned by authorities for his coverage of violence against student protesters. In November 2022, he was reportedly sued for “anti–government propaganda.” In February 2024, he faced…
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A feminist writer, Selek has been prosecuted for over 20 years on false claims related to her involvement in a 1998 explosion in Istanbul. She currently lives in exile in France, where international organizations plan to appeal her case to the European Court of Human Rights. On June 22, 2022,…
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Purkayastha is the founder of NewsClick, an independent news website, and a public intellectual. In October 2023, the NewsClick offices and his home were raided, in a wide sweep involving 46 journalists. He was then detained under an anti-terrorism law for allegedly receiving funding to spread pro-Chinese propaganda. Despite denying…
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Famous anti-colonial author Pramoedya was imprisoned twice for his writings, first by the Dutch from 1947-1949 and later by the authoritarian Suharto regime from 1965-1979. While in prison, he secretly published four novels and became a national symbol. He died in 2006.
Writers at Risk Database Key:
STATUS box that is red: Active case
STATUS box that is black: Inactive case
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.
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.