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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MurderedSushmita Banerjee
Activist, Literary writerAfghanistanAsia-PacificOn September 5, 2013, the Indian-Afghan memoirist Sushmita Banerjee, known for her memoir “Kabuliwalar Bangali Bou” that was made into the Bollywood movie “Escape from Taliban,” was tragically shot dead, purportedly by a splinter Taliban group who claimed responsibility. Her body was found with around 20 bullet holes outside a…
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Continued HarassmentSvetlana Alexievich
Journalist, Literary writerBelarusEurope and Central AsiaAlexievich, a renowned writer, essayist, and the first-ever Nobel Prize laureate from Belarus, has faced significant persecution due to her outspoken views. She was charged with allegedly “appealing to overthrow or change the constitutional order of Belarus” and for crimes against the government. In addition to the charges, her works…
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ImprisonedSvetlana Petriychuk
DramatistRussiaEurope and Central AsiaPlaywright Svetlana Petriychuk was detained in May 2023 for writing the play Finist, the Bright Falcon. She was accused alongside the play’s director, Zhenya Berkovich, of “justifying terrorism” in their play, which was about women who meet jihadists on the internet to go to Syria. Following several delays and detention…
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Displaced/In ExileSvetlana Prokopieva
Journalist, Online CommentatorRussiaEurope and Central AsiaIn July 2019, columnist Svetlana Prokopieva was placed on an official list of terrorists and extremists in Russia. On July 6, 2020, she was convicted of “inciting terrorism,” and fined 500,000 rubles for her coverage of the 2018 suicide bombing in the Federal Security Service building in Arkhangelsk, arguing that…
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Displaced/In ExileSvetlana Slapšak
Literary writer, Scholar, TranslatorSerbiaEurope and Central AsiaWriter and activist Svetlana Slapšak faced physical and legal threats for her human rights work in Serbia. In 1989, she was dismissed from her job, and in 1991 fled to Slovenia, where she continued her activist work. She received the PEN Freedom to Write Award in 1993. She remains an…
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Recorded HarassmentSwathi Vadlamudi
Creative artist, JournalistIndiaAsia-PacificSwathi Vadlamudi was charged with hurting religious sentiments after posting a cartoon on Twitter that alluded to far-right Hindu demonstrations calling for the release of suspected perpetrators involved in the gang-rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl from a Muslim nomadic community. Although the case remained open for years and…
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Conditional ReleaseSyed Fawad Ali Shah
Journalist, Online CommentatorPakistanAsia-PacificPakistani columnist Shah was forced into exile in Malaysia for his writing on corruption in Pakistan. He was first kidnapped in 2011 by Pakistani Intelligence Services (the ISI) for his reporting. Upon his release, he was forced to seek asylum in Malaysia. In 2022, he was kidnapped by the ISI…
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Displaced/In ExileTa Phong Tan
Journalist, Online CommentatorVietnamAsia-PacificA police officer who began blogging to expose abuses of power, Ta was imprisoned in 2011 on anti-state propaganda charges. Her case sparked international activism and widespread condemnation. In 2012, her mother tragically set herself on fire in protest of her daughter’s detention. After enduring years in prison under harsh…
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ReleasedTal Al-Mallouhi
Online Commentator, Poet, ScholarSyriaMiddle East and North AfricaPoet, student, and blogger Tal Al-Mallouhi was arrested in December 2009 for the content of her blog, which touched on political and social issues. In 2011, she was convicted of “divulging information to a foreign state” and sentenced to five years in prison. After spending over a decade in Syria’s…
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.