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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Waldyes is one of the Zone 9 Bloggers, a group formed in 2012 to publish political commentary online in the face of tightening restrictions on expression. Following his initial arrest in 2014, he was released in 2015. He was once again detained on October 2, 2021 for filming protests at…
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Than Myint Aung is a novelist, short story writer, and philanthropist known for her writing on societal issues and literary speeches. In the early hours of the 2021 coup, she was arrested from her home and charged with “incitement.” In December 2021, she was sentenced to three years in prison,…
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Poet Than Tint 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. He was released on…
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Thanapol is a co-founder and editor-in-chief of Same Sky Books, a political magazine and publisher of books on Thai politics and history. Police have harassed Thanapol and Same Sky Books for his publishing activities and critical online commentary. On June 29, 2022, Thanapol was arrested then released on bail the…
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Selvanithy was the founder of the feminist journal Tholi. Reportedly critical of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s guerilla tactics, she was abducted by the LTTE in 1991 and declared executed In 1997. No official reason has been given for her abduction or execution.
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Al-Marzouqi was seized in a home raid during a wave of arrests in April 2019, in what some believe was a crackdown on individuals supporting women’s rights in the Kingdom. He was detained without charge until March 2021, when he was released alongside four other writers.
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Renowned Tibetan author Thupten is serving a 4-year-sentence for allegedly “inciting separatism.” He was first arrested in October 2021 due to his political commentary on platforms like Weibo and QQ. Most of Thupten’s work was on socioeconomic difficulties and the political situation in Tibet.
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.