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
ReleasedTesfalem Waldyes
Online CommentatorEthiopiaSub-Saharan AfricaWaldyes 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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ReleasedThan Myint Aung
Activist, Literary writerMyanmarAsia-PacificThan 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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ReleasedThan Tint
Creative artist, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificPoet 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. The protests represented a…
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Conditional ReleaseThanapol Eawsakul
Editor, Online Commentator, PublisherThailandAsia-PacificThanapol Eawsakul 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…
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MurderedThiagarajah Selvanithy
Literary writer, Poet, ScholarSri LankaAsia-PacificSelvanithy was the founder of the feminist journal Tholi and was reportedly critical of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s guerilla (LTTE)’s tactics. These views made her a target of the group, which had a stronghold in the Tamil-dominated regions of Sri Lanka during the civil war. After being abducted…
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Conditional ReleaseThumar Al-Marzouqi
Activist, Journalist, Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaJournalist and blogger Thumar Al-Marzouqi, along with his wife, was detained following a raid on his home during a wave of arrests in April 2019, during a large crackdown on individuals supporting women’s rights in the Kingdom, which fell into what is commonly referred to as the “April Campaign” in…
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ImprisonedThupten Lodoe
Literary writer, Online CommentatorChina/Tibet Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificRenowned 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. In June 2024, he was hospitalized…
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ReleasedTian Qizhuang
Journalist, Literary writer, TranslatorChinaAsia-PacificColumnist and literary writer Tian was arrested in August 2022 after publishing two letters critical of the growing worship of personality around President Xi Jinping. He was detained by Handan City Police in Hebei Province and charged with “colluding with foreign forces,” he was sentenced to two years in prison…
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On TrialTimur Soykan
Journalist, Literary writerTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaIn June 2024, journalist Timur Soykan was sued by New Zealand drug lord Duax Ngakuru, who claimed Soykan’s book Baron Invasion damaged his honor and demanded 350,000 TL and its withdrawal. That same day, authorities blocked access to Soykan’s related report. A separate trial over two articles began 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.