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
ImprisonedAlexander Feduta
Literary writerBelarusEurope and Central AsiaLiterary intellectual and PEN Belarus member Feduta was arrested in April 2021 in Moscow and quickly extradited to Belarus on “suspicion of committing a crime.” On September 5, 2022, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for plotting “to take power by unconstitutional means.” An ex-Lukashenka campaigner during the…
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Displaced/In ExileAlexander Pomidoroff
Creative artist, Journalist, Singer/SongwriterBelarusEurope and Central AsiaOn September 19, 2020, Pomidoroff was detained after playing at a neighbors’ gathering in Minsk and was sentenced to eight days of administrative arrest. In November 2020, after being released, he quit the state owned radio station ROCKS in fear that it was endangering him and his family. Due to…
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Displaced/In ExileAlexei Kuzmich
Activist, Creative artist, Literary writerBelarusEurope and Central AsiaOn Election Day, August 9, 2020, Alexei Kuzmich gave a part of his performance “I Believe or the Philistine World of Political Animals” at a polling location. The next day police officers broke into his apartment and briefly detained him. A few days later he attended a protest regarding the…
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ReleasedAlexey Kungurov
Activist, Online CommentatorRussiaEurope and Central AsiaSiberian blogger Kungurov, who spent two years in prison for “justification of terrorism” from 2016-18, was arrested again in November 2019 for 15 days. He was accused of arousing hatred with a social media article, but was not even brought to the court for his hearings.
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Conditional ReleaseAli Ahmadzadeh
Dramatist, Online CommentatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaIranian filmmaker and diretor Ahmadzadeh was arrested in Tehran on unknown charges on August 31, 2022. He was then released on September 3. He says that he is still facing charges related to producing a film without a licence.
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DeceasedAli Al-Domaini
Activist, Literary writer, PoetSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaPro-democracy activist Al-Domaini was arrested in March 2004 for criticizing Saudi Arabia’s National Commission of Human Rights and planning to set up his own organization. In August 2005, he was pardoned and released, he later faced travel restrictions. On April 25, 2022, Al-Domaini passed due to illness at age 74.
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Conditional ReleaseAli Al-Saffar
Journalist, Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Saffar is one of several commentators and writers arrested in April 2019. He had previously written about the Syrian Civil War and regional conflicts but had not been active at the time of his arrest. He was detained until March 2021, when he was conditionally released.
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ReleasedAli Al-Shadwi
Literary writerSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Shadwi has published many novels and studies dealing with Saudi society, the most prominent of which are: Modernity and Saudi Society and Saudi Society: Preservation-Remembrance-Forgetting. He was arrested and detained in April 2020 after posting a tweet of condolence regarding human rights defender Abdullah al-Hamid, who died in custody. In…
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DisappearedAli Al-Shihabi
Literary writer, Online CommentatorSyriaMiddle East and North AfricaSyrian Palestinian political analyst, writer, and blogger Al-Shihabi was arrested in December 2012 by the Palestine Branch of Syrian Military Intelligence. His location is unknown, but there are unconfirmed reports he may have been killed under torture as of 2017.
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.