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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ConvictedVictor Herrero
Journalist, Literary writerChileAmericasEditor 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. The story was based on five anonymous sources and two reporting trips to southern Chile, according to Herrero. He was…
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Displaced/In ExileVictor Ticay
Journalist, Online CommentatorNicaraguaAmericasTicay, a broadcast journalist for a local TV channel, was serving an eight-year prison sentence for his online commentary on his Facebook page La Portada. During his trial in June 2023, he was denied private legal representation and assigned a public defender. He was convicted on politically motivated charges of…
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Displaced/In ExileViktor Shenderovich
Journalist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorRussiaEurope and Central AsiaSatirist 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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ReleasedVladimir Kara-Murza
Activist, Creative artist, Journalist, Literary writerRussiaEurope and Central AsiaKara-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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ReleasedVladyslav Yesypenko
JournalistUkraineEurope and Central AsiaVladyslav 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…
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Custodial/Wrongful DeathVolodymyr Vakulenko
Literary writer, PoetUkraineEurope and Central AsiaA 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…
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ImprisonedVsevolod Korolev
Online Commentator, PoetRussiaEurope and Central AsiaPoet and filmmaker Vsevolod Korolev was a vocal opponent of the Russia-Ukraine war, attending various anti-war protests and making films about imprisoned activists. On July 11, 2022, a criminal case was opened against him for online posts. Two days later, he was arrested and subjected to a lengthy trial. On…
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ImprisonedVyacheslav Malakhov
Online Commentator, PoetRussiaEurope and Central AsiaIn August 2023, poet and online commentator Vyacheslav Malakhov was fined 30,000 rubles for a VK post that allegedly “[discredited] the army.” On January 31, 2024, he was arrested again for “discrediting the army.” He pled guilty on June 11, 2024, and was sentenced to two years in prison on…
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ReleasedWa Lone
Journalist, Literary writerMyanmarAsia-PacificReuters reporter Wa Lone was a 2018 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award Honoree. He was arrested in December 2017 with his colleague Kyaw Soe Oo after they covered a massacre in Rakhine State. Both writers received seven-year prison sentences in 2018 for allegedly obtaining state secrets. Though their sentences were…
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.