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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A Tibetan monk, Ngawang led the Drepung printing group, secret producer of pro-independence literature in the late ’80s. Upon discovery of the group, Ngawang was sentenced to 19 years in prison where he suffered torture and inhumane treatment. He was released in 2007.
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In August 2018, Gonsalves was arrested on politically motivated charges of incitement to violence along with other leftist writer-activists connected to the Bhima Koregaon case in a coordinated raid. He remains detained awaiting trial and his bail pleas have been continually rejected, even though he contracted dengue fever in jail…
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Xu is a comedian and journalist who wrote for the New York Times from Bejing. She has faced multiple instances of harassment in China due to her reporting on the Uyghur people. She moved to Australia but continues to receive threats, which she describes as “psychological torture.” Xu authored the…
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Editor and founder of the independent news website Interferencia, Herrero was convicted on charges of defaming a police colonel on May 22, 2023 after he wrote a story on him. He was ordered to pay a fine and legal costs of the trial. Herrero co-authored La revuelta, a chronicle that…
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Ticay, a broadcast journalist for a local TV channel, is serving an 8 year prison sentence for his online commentary on his Facebook page “La Portada.” In his trial held in June 2023, Ticay was denied a private defense and was assigned a public defender. He was convicted and sentenced…
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Satirist Shenderovich fled Russia after he was designated as a “foreign agent” in December 2021. He has lived in exile since, but faces continued repression. Reports emerged in 2022 and 2023 that various Russian libraries and booksellers refused to sell his works. He was denied entry to Georgia in June…
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Kara-Murza is a journalist, politician, and columnist who has long been targeted for his criticism of the Russian government. He survived two poisoning attempts in 2015 and 2017. He was arrested in April 2022 and charged with disseminating false information about the Russian military. In April 2023, he was sentenced…
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Yesypenko, a freelance journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained in March 2021 by the Russian Federal Security Services (FSB) while reporting in Crimea. FSB agents reportedly tortured him and forced him to confess; and in February 2022, he was sentenced to six years in prison and a fine…
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A renowned writer and activist, Vakulenko had also volunteered for the Ukrainian army since 2015. He and his son went missing on March 7, 2022, amidst Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Vakulenko’s wife confirmed on April 12 that he was still alive, but had been kidnapped by Russian forces and was…
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.