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
Continued HarassmentNikita Smagin
Journalist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorRussiaEurope and Central AsiaNikita Smagin is a journalist, writer, and expert on Iran. In April 2025, he was interrogated for hours in Tbilisi while travelling to Georgia from Russia for a book presentation. The same month, he was designated as a foreign agent in Russia, reportedly in connection with the content of his…
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DetainedNikolai Zyuzev
Literary writer, ScholarRussiaEurope and Central AsiaNikolai Zyuzev, a Russian scholar and writer, was arrested in June 2025 in the Komi Republic and accused of “collaboration with a foreign state or organization,” with his foreign ties and critical writing reportedly linked to the case. His pretrial detention was extended in August 2025, and he remained in…
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ImprisonedNikolay Dayneko
PoetRussiaEurope and Central AsiaIn September 2022, poet Dayneko was arrested along with Egor Shtovba at the Mayakovsky Readings in Moscow. The next day, Artem Kamardin was arrested in relation to the case. Since then, the three poets of the Mayakovsky group have been detained and charged with “public calls for activities directed against…
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ConvictedNima Ghasemi
Journalist, Literary writer, ScholarIranMiddle East and North AfricaGhasemi, a philosophy scholar who holds a PhD from Shahid Beheshti University, was arrested in February 2021 and taken to Evin Prison where he was kept in solitary confinement until March 14, 2021. He was charged with “conspiracy and propaganda against the system,” related to articles on sensitive political and…
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Continued HarassmentNima Saffar
Activist, Literary writer, Online Commentator, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaSaffar is a poet and writer who has a long history of arrests due to activism dating back to 2012. In February 2020, he was released early from an 8-month prison sentence due to COVID-19. In October 2021, he was interrogated by authorities due to messages on Instagram. In June…
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ConvictedNina Golestani
Activist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaNina Golestani, an activist, literary writer, and online commentator, has faced multiple arrests and convictions linked to her activism and social media activity. She was arrested in November 2023 and later sentenced in August 2024 to more than four years in prison for “propaganda” and “collusion.” Arrested again in March…
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ReleasedNizametdin Akhmetov
Activist, PoetRussiaEurope and Central AsiaPoet and the first PEN Freedom to Write honoree, Akhmetov was arrested in 1966 on fabricated charges of theft for association with a movement advocating for the return of Tatar people to Crimea. While imprisoned for 18 years, he continued to write against the Soviet state.
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Custodial/Wrongful DeathNizar Al-Banat
Activist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorPalestinian TerritoriesMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Banat was a literary writer and a prominent human rights activist who was critical of the Palestinian Authority (PA) on social media. His home was attacked by PA forces on June 24, 2021 at 3am, when he was beaten and then arrested. His death in custody was announced several hours…
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Displaced/In ExileNizar Nayouf
Activist, Journalist, PoetSyriaMiddle East and North AfricaPoet, journalist, and activist Nizar Nayouf was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1992 for his membership in the banned Committee for the Defense of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria and for serving as editor-in-chief of its newsletter. He was released in 2001 after enduring years of…
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.