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
Conditional ReleaseShimaa Samy
Journalist, Online CommentatorEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaAfter writing critically of the government’s detention of political prisoners on the news website Darb, Samy was abducted in Alexandria by security forces on May 20, 2020 and held incommunicado for 10 days. She appeared in state custody on May 31 and was detained without trial for 18 months. During…
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ImprisonedShin Daewe
Creative artist, Dramatist, JournalistMyanmarAsia-PacificShin Daewe is a prominent screenwriter and filmmaker whose works comment on poverty and social issues. She was arrested in October 2023 after police confiscated a video drone she planned to use in a documentary. In January 2024, she was sentenced to life in prison by a military tribunal for…
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MurderedShireen Abu Akleh
Journalist, Online CommentatorIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaKnown as “the voice of Palestine,” Abu Akleh spent 25 years reporting on the Palestinian struggle for freedom, writing about life under Israeli occupation, and providing critical commentary on human rights abuses, media restrictions, and free expression issues. On May 11, 2022, while covering an Israeli military raid in the…
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ReleasedShiva Nazar Ahari
Activist, Journalist, Online CommentatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaA founder of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, Ahari has been jailed several times for her work documenting the suffering of Iranians. Most recently, she was imprisoned from 2012-2016 at Evin Prison. In 2018, she sought refuge in Slovenia to continue her activism.
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ImprisonedShoret Nijat
Online Commentator, ScholarChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificNijat, a student of Ilham Tohti, was arrested for his involvement with Tohti’s website Uyghurbiz, which aimed to promote understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. He was sentenced in a 2014 secret trial and has been held incommunicado since 2018. Despite reports indicating he served his entire sentence by 2021,…
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ReleasedShwe Kyal Moe
Creative artist, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificPoet and creative artist Shwe Kyal Moe was arrested and detained on March 27, 2021 while taking part in a protest led by poets on Pansodan Road in downtown Yangon. During these protests, poets took part in readings and sold poems and art to oppose the February 1 military coup.…
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DeceasedSiamak Pourzand
Journalist, Literary writerIranMiddle East and North AfricaPourzand, former manager of a cultural center and frequent cultural commentator, passed away after falling from his apartment balcony; though it is unclear whether he jumped or was pushed. He had previously been arrested, disappeared, and held incommunicado for his writing. In 2022, a U.S. federal judge ruled that the…
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ReleasedSiarhei Haranin
Literary writer, TranslatorBelarusEurope and Central AsiaA linguist and literary critic, Haranin was arrested after a raid on the National Academy of Science (NAS) for the Belarusian Culture, Language, and Literature in October 2022. He was later released from administrative detention in November 2022. Following his release, he was dismissed from his position at NAS. He…
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Conditional ReleaseSiarzh Miadzvedzeu
TranslatorBelarusEurope and Central AsiaA member of PEN Belarus, Miadzvedzeu was detained at a peaceful protest in Minsk on September 8, 2020 after the election of Aleksander Lukashenka and the detention of opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova. He was conditionally released the following day to await trial. As of September 9, 2020, his trial was…
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.