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 ReleaseRandy Arteaga Rivera
Online Commentator, Singer/SongwriterCubaAmericasArteaga, a rapper who has published songs on socio-political issues in Cuba including the song Basta on racism and police brutality, was arrested and detained during the 11J protests. In April 2022, he was sentenced to five years imprisonment for disrupting public disorder and contempt. On January 16, 2025, Rivera…
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ReleasedRania Al-Assal
Journalist, Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaRania Al-Assal is an Egyptian journalist who traveled to Saudi Arabia to complete Umrah. While there, she posted several tweets questioning Saudi authorities for naming the gates of Masjid al-Haram Mosque that surround the Kaaba after Saudi monarchs, as well as denouncing Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen. Al-Assal was detained…
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ReleasedRaouf Farrah
Literary writer, ScholarAlgeriaMiddle East and North AfricaFarrah, a Canadian-Algerian researcher, human right defender, and contributing author of Algeria: The Future in Play, was arrested in February 2023 in Algeria as he was visiting relatives. He was accused of publishing classified information and receiving funds from foreign institutions with the intent to disrupt public order. His two-year…
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ReleasedRasem Obaidat
Journalist, Online CommentatorIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaObaidat has written political commentary for both his own channels and news outlets, and has authored two books: Cries in the Time of Apostasy and From the Memory of Families. He was detained in 2021 and again in December 2023 for sharing his critical views of Israel. His East Jerusalem…
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Continued HarassmentRasha Azab
Activist, Journalist, Literary writerEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaRasha Azab has faced ongoing surveillance, threats, and legal harassment. In April 2022, Azab was convicted of “insult” and “defamation,” and fined 10,000 EGP due to tweets of solidarity with survivors of sexual violence. After her April 24, 2024 arrest during a Gaza solidarity protest, Azab reported being followed by…
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Continued HarassmentRasha Qandeel
Journalist, Online CommentatorEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaRasha Qandeel is an Egyptian journalist and online commentator who was interrogated on May 25, 2025 over allegations of “spreading false news” related to her investigative reporting for Sotour. She was questioned for several hours and released the same day on bail of 50,000 EGP. The case is based on…
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ImprisonedRashad Ramazanov
Literary writer, Online CommentatorAzerbaijanEurope and Central AsiaAuthor Ramazanov has been jailed multiple times on retaliatory charges. In 2013, he was sentenced to 9 years in prison on fabricated drug charges, but was pardoned by President lham Aliyev in a mass amnesty in March 2019. Arrested again in May 2022 for “drug trafficking,” which he claims is…
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Continued HarassmentRasoul Ghanbari
Journalist, TranslatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaRasoul Ghanbari, an Iranian translator and journalist, was arrested on November 3, 2025, during the arrest of a group of leftist figures, and released after a few hours. Described as a researcher and prominent leftist intellectual, he has translated works by Yanis Varoufakis and written online on leftist economics. He…
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ImprisonedRasul Abdi Parsi
Online Commentator, ScholarAfghanistanAsia-PacificParsi is an Islamic law scholar and former professor at Herat University who was arrested by the Taliban in March 2023 for comments he posted on Facebook. In October 2023, he was sentenced to 16 months in prison for “propaganda against the regime” and blasphemy. His lawyer reported in December…
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.