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
DetainedSaleh Al-Zarwali
Journalist, Online CommentatorLibyaMiddle East and North AfricaSaleh Al-Zarwali is a Libyan journalist and online commentator who was violently arrested on May 15, 2024 in Ajdabiya and subsequently transferred to military detention in Benghazi. He has remained in pretrial detention for over ten months with limited legal access and repeated delays in proceedings. In March 2025, he…
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ImprisonedSalim Al-Jabali
Online CommentatorTunisiaMiddle East and North AfricaSalim Al-Jabali ran a Facebook page called “Minister of Hypertension and Diabetes” in which he posted political opinions. He was detained for several Facebook posts in which he called the President a “dog” and a “coup maker” and was sentenced to 1 year in jail on October 13, 2021. In…
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DetainedSalman Al-Khalidi
Activist, Online CommentatorKuwaitMiddle East and North AfricaActivist Al-Khalidi was sentenced in absentia to 5 years of imprisonment for his tweets while he was studying in Qatar. He was pardoned in January 2023, but sentenced again in May for his online postings. He was sentenced to 3 years in September and 5 in November for false news,…
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DetainedSalman Al-Ouda
Literary writer, Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaSalman Al-Ouda, a Saudi scholar, writer, and online commentator, was arrested in September 2017 after posting a tweet during a diplomatic dispute. He was held in solitary confinement and incommunicado for months, later charged with 37 offenses, including affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood and inciting unrest, with prosecutors seeking the…
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Under ThreatSalman Rushdie
Literary writerUnited StatesAmericasA former PEN America president, Rushdie is a well-known novelist who has written over 20 books. In 1989, he was the target of a fatwa issued by the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini after he wrote The Satanic Verses, and spent a decade in hiding. On August 12, 2022, Rushdie…
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Displaced/In ExileSaman Seydi Yasin
Singer/SongwriterIranMiddle East and North AfricaKurdish rapper Saman Yasin was abducted by security forces in October 2022 after releasing music supporting the Mahsa Amini protests. He was charged with “enmity against God,” a crime carrying the death sentence. He attempted suicide in December 2022. His appeal was accepted in the same month, but he faced…
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ImprisonedSamaneh Noruz Moradi
Activist, Online CommentatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaActivist Samaneh Noruz Moradi has been in and out of prison since 2018. In 2020, she was diagnosed with breast cancer while in jail, and was sent on medical leave with bail in 2021. Two years later, she was rearrested and charged with “propaganda against the regime” for her commentary…
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Recorded HarassmentSamantha Kureya
Creative artistZimbabweSub-Saharan AfricaArmed, masked men who identified themselves as police officers kidnapped comedian and satirist Kureya (known as Gonyeti) on August 21, 2019. They abused her in an unknown location, and rebuked her for mocking the government. She was found 3 hours later and went into hiding. She was forced to drink…
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ReleasedSameh Haneen
JournalistEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaOn May 16, 2020, state security officers arrested Haneen, a freelance journalist and documentary producer, on charges of spreading false news, threatening national security, and joining a terrorist organization allegedly after producing video for Al-Jazeera. He is also known as a photographer and has worked extensively in journalism and documentary…
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.