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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In August 2020, the Supreme Court fined lawyer and author Bhushan one rupee for two tweets critical of the Court, convicting him of “contempt of court.” Bhushan paid the fine but seeks an appeal of his conviction. He has since been targeted in new investigations and attempted reprimands from the…
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In August 2017, a district court in Delhi approved a ban on Pathak-Narain’s novel Godman to Tycoon: The Untold Story of Baba Ramdev without hearing the defense’s case. After an appeal by the publisher, the case was brought to the Delhi High Court, which upheld the ban.
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Poet and musician Qasem Bahrami was detained in September 2021 on unknown charges, most likely due to his original poems and online readings of verses that criticize the government. Released on bail on November 14, 2021, he was rearrested on January 16, 2022. He was given an 11-year prison sentence…
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Qasim Sidiq was detained by authorities in March 2017, after which he disappeared. Nearly four years later his detention was confirmed. According to a Radio Free Asia source, Sidiq’s song lyrics from more than 15 years ago were used as “evidence” to support charges of “ethnic hatred” and a sentence…
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Qin Yongmin is a writer, activist, and the co-founder of the Democratic Party of China. On May 6, 2015, he was arrested for inciting subversion of state power. In 2018, Qin was sentenced to thirteen years’ imprisonment and three years’ deprivation of political rights.
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In February 2021, author and blogger Qiu was detained for questioning on Weibo the Chinese government-reported casualty numbers in an India-China border dispute. In May 2021, he was sentenced to eight months in prison and ordered to issue a public apology, in one of the first cases enforcing a law…
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Mamut, who had worked with Uyghur-run cultural publications for over four decades, disappeared in 2017 after visiting his exiled son in the United States. Authorities told Mamut’s son that he had been taken to a re-education camp, where he is unlikely to face trial. In March 2022, his family learned…
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.