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
DeceasedPramoedya Ananta Toer
Activist, Literary writerIndonesiaAsia-PacificFamous 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.
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ConvictedPrashant Bhushan
Literary writer, Online CommentatorIndiaAsia-PacificIn August 2020, the Supreme Court fined lawyer and author Prashant Bhushan one rupee for two tweets critical of the Court, convicting him of “contempt of court.” Bhushan paid the fine but sought to appeal the conviction. He was later targeted by new investigations and attempts at reprimands from the…
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Recorded HarassmentPriyanka Pathak-Narain
Literary writerIndiaAsia-PacificIn 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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ImprisonedQasem Bahrami
Online Commentator, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaPoet 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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ImprisonedQasim Sidiq
Poet, Scholar, Singer/SongwriterChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificQasim Sidiq was detained by authorities in March 2017, and his whereabouts remained unknown until nearly four years later, when his detention was confirmed. According to a Radio Free Asia source, his song lyrics from over 15 years ago were used as “evidence” to charge him with “ethnic hatred.” He…
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ImprisonedQin Yongmin
Activist, Journalist, Literary writerChinaAsia-PacificQin Yongmin, a writer, activist, and co-founder of the Democratic Party of China, was arrested on May 6, 2015, for inciting subversion of state power. In 2018, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison and 3 years of deprivation of political rights. His long-standing advocacy for political reform and…
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ReleasedQiu Ziming
Literary writer, Online CommentatorChinaAsia-PacificIn February 2021, author and blogger Qiu was detained for questioning the Chinese government-reported casualty numbers in an India-China border dispute on Weibo. 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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ImprisonedQuach Duy
Online CommentatorVietnamAsia-PacificQuach Duy is an outspoken anti-corruption blogger and former state official of the People’s Committee at Ho Chi Minh City. He was expelled from the communist party and arrested on September 18, 2020, and was subsequently sentenced to four years and six months in prison on April 14, 2021, for…
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ImprisonedQurban Mamut
Journalist, PoetChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificMamut, a prominent Uyghur poet and journalist 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.…
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.