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
Status
A prominent Punjabi musician, Moose Wala was arrested in 2020 for promoting violence for his song “Sanju.” On May 29, 2022, he was shot and killed while driving without his security detail by civilians allegedly connected to a Canadian mafia group. In July 2022, his last song “SYL,” which addressed…
Status
Rung Sila was detained for writing a poem deemed offensive to the monarchy and faced 45 years in prison under the lèse-majesté law. Granted bail in 2019 after nearly 5 years detained, he was given a 4.5-year sentence, and quickly released because he has spent 4 years and 11 months…
Status
Status
Columnist Sithu Aung Myint is among the writers and cultural figures who have been targeted after the February 2021 coup. He was arrested in August 2021 and held at Insein prison in relation to several articles he posted criticizing the military. From October-December 2022, he received 3 sentences on subversion,…
Status
Sithu Soe 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.
Status
Status
Gebremichael is one of the Zone 9 Bloggers, a group formed in 2012 to publish political commentary online in the face of tightening restrictions on expression. Following her initial arrest in 2014, she was acquitted of all criminal charges and released in 2015.
Status
Status
Magazine editor and activist Somyot was arrested on October 16, 2020 for sedition for his involvement in the September 2020 pro-democracy demonstrations. He was again detained in February 2021 for violating lèse-majesté laws, sedition, and other lesser charges. On April 23, 2021, Somyot was released on bail under the condition…
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.