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.
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Poet, student, and blogger Al-Mallouhi was detained in December 2009 for the content of her blog posts. In 2011, she was convicted of “divulging information to a foreign state” and sentenced to 5 years in prison. She has not been released, and is thought to be disappeared.
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The publisher of Akhbar al-Youm, Bouachrine is known for his editorials and columns criticizing the Moroccan government. He has been targeted in the past for his writing, and was arrested again in February 2018 on multiple spurious charges which human rights groups see as punishment for his journalism. In October…
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Tashi has publicly advocated for Tibetan language rights, drawing persecution from the state. In 2016, he was secretly detained and held incommunicado for two months. Sentenced to five years in prison for “inciting separatism,” he was conditionally released on January 28, 2021. He has continued his advocacy, and has been…
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Tashpolat Tiyip is an academic of Uyghur origin and the former president of Xinjiang University. Authorities stopped Tiyip in 2017 at Beijing airport. It is rumored that Tiyip was secretly sentenced to death. The Chinese government stated to the United Nations that he is detained on corruption charges but has…
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Afsari is a poet and composer. He was arrested for “slogan writing” in a violent home raid on June 17, 2023. His electronics were confiscated and he was severely beaten. He was released on bail the next day.
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On December 13, 2015, Al-Najjar, a Jordanian national, was arrested by authorities for a Facebook post in which he criticized Israel and the UAE. He served nearly four years in prison and was tortured. Released in February 2019, he died two years later at age 46.
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A well-known activist, columnist and writer, Setalvad was detained on June 25, 2022 without a warrant. She was then accused of forgery, filing false charges, criminal conspiracy, and fabricating false evidence. She was released on bail on September 3, 2022, but is required to seek permission before attempting to leave…
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Ghebreyesus is a newspaper editor, comic, and actor. He has been detained incommunicado since 2001 in a sweeping crackdown on print media following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
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Director and producer Maduwa was arrested alongside co-filmwriter Kudakwashe Bwititi after a screening of their fim The Lord of Kush. The film tells the story of a clash of cultures between Islamic and Christian communities in Zimbabwe and the violence that follows. On May 24, 2021, the case against Maduwa…
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.