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
ReleasedTran Huynh Duy Thuc
Activist, Online Commentator, PoetVietnamAsia-PacificThuc was arrested in 2009 and sentenced in a flawed trial to 16 years in connection with a book advocating for governance reforms. He has been subject to inhumane conditions in prison, and has endured multiple hunger strikes in protest of his lengthy prison sentence. In September 2024, after 15…
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Displaced/In ExileTran Khai Thanh Thuy
Journalist, Literary writer, PoetVietnamAsia-PacificSince 2006, Tran Khai Thanh Thuy faced violent threats and multiple brief detentions. In 2010, she was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for assault after being attacked by police. She was unexpectedly flown to the U.S. in 2011 and abruptly released into exile. Over the years,…
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Displaced/In ExileTran Thi Nga
Journalist, Online CommentatorVietnamAsia-PacificIn 2017, dissident blogger Tran Thi Nga was arrested on charges of spreading propaganda and ultimately imprisoned in highly abusive conditions. While imprisoned, Nga faced retaliation for appealing her conviction and endured physical assault from other prisoners. As part of an agreement to cut her nine-year sentence short, she went…
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ReleasedTran Vu Anh Binh
Online Commentator, Singer/SongwriterVietnamAsia-PacificBinh was convicted in 2012 and sentenced to five years in prison for the content of his songs, which advocate for human rights and denounce social injustice and abuse of power. One of his songs, “Courage in the Dark Prison,” expressed support for an imprisoned blogger.
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ImprisonedTrinley Tsekar
Singer/SongwriterChina/Tibet Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificTsekar, who had written many songs on Tibetan themes, was arrested in November 2013 after attending a protest against mining in a sacred site. His charges were politically motivated and intended to silence his creative expression. In December 2013, Tsekar was sentenced to nine years in prison for allegedly “impacting…
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ImprisonedTruong Duy Nhat
Journalist, Online CommentatorVietnamAsia-PacificA Radio Free Asia reporter and blogger known for his critical exposé on Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, Nhat was abducted and detained by Vietnamese agents in Thailand in January 2019. In March 2020, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for trumped-up fraud charges. A Hanoi court of appeals…
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ImprisonedTruong Huy San
Journalist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorVietnamAsia-PacificJournalist, blogger, and author Truong Huy San was arrested on June 1, 2024, for “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331 of the Criminal Code for his Facebook posts. San had recently criticized the Ministry of Public Security, its former leader and current president Tô Lâm, and Communist Party General Secretary…
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Recorded HarassmentTsering Woeser
Journalist, Literary writer, PoetChinaAsia-PacificAn award-winning Tibetan writer, Woeser was placed under house arrest in 2008 and again in 2014 for her activism for Tibetan rights. Her books are currently banned in China and all her communications are heavily monitored by authorities. She continues to post critical commentary on Twitter and her blog despite…
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ImprisonedTsi Conrad
Creative artist, Journalist, Literary writerCameroonSub-Saharan AfricaTsi Conrad, a photojournalist, writer, and artist, was beaten and arrested at gunpoint in 2016 while documenting a rally where police killed four protesters. For sharing the footage, Conrad was sentenced in 2018 to 15 years in prison on charges including spreading fake news and terrorism. In August 2021, two…
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.