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
Conditional ReleaseAlejandro Guilleuma Ibáñez
Singer/SongwriterCubaAmericasIbáñez was detained while demonstrating in Havana’s El Vedado neighborhood, along with other artists, in October 2022. He remained in detention with no clear information about his sentence, final charges, or the evidence used against him in court until 2023. He was released conditionally in May 2023 and is now…
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Recorded HarassmentAlejandro Salazar
Creative artistBoliviaAmericasAn artist and illustrator, Salazar had been a regular contributor to local Bolivian newspaper La Razón. Following a series of threats and attacks in response to his critical political cartoons, Salazar decided to desist from publishing further cartoons in 2019. After a year-long hiatus, he returned to La Razón in…
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ImprisonedAleksandr Byvshev
Online Commentator, PoetRussiaEurope and Central AsiaPoet Byvshev was detained in February 2023 for an anti-war poem. A case of “calling for terrorism” was opened against him, and he was detained. Rights group Memorial declared him a political prisoner in July. In October, a new case was opened against him for posts on killings by the…
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ReleasedAleksandr Khikhel
Singer/SongwriterBelarusEurope and Central AsiaAleksander Khikhel is an Orthodox Christian bard known for social commentary in his music. He was a supporter of the 2020 protests in Belarus. He was detained in June 2025 for his music and accused of distributing and creating extremist content. State media reported that he “sang silly songs against…
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ImprisonedAleksandr Nozdrinov
Online CommentatorRussiaEurope and Central AsiaNozdrinov, a blogger, was searched and detained in March 2022 for his online activity after posting photos of demolished buildings in Kyiv, Ukraine. In September 2023, he was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison for spreading “false news” about the Russian military. His sentence was upheld in…
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ReleasedAlena Palachanskaya
Creative artist, Singer/SongwriterBelarusEurope and Central AsiaDuring a street rally on August 20, 2020 both members of the band LAUDANS, Palachanskaya and Andrey Luhin, had their instruments confiscated. On October 16, 2020 both were detained where they were supposed to play on suspicions of being drunk, but were released after a conversation with the police officers.…
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Displaced/In ExileAles Bialacki
Activist, Literary writer, ScholarBelarusEurope and Central AsiaBialacki, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is a writer, literary critic, and head of human rights group Viasna. In July 2021, he was arrested on feigned tax evasion charges targeting his work to monitor human rights violations. He was detained on charges of “smuggling” and “ violating public order” by…
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Custodial/Wrongful DeathAles Pushkin
Creative artist, Literary writerBelarusEurope and Central AsiaAles Pushkin was a performance artist who used art to criticize and comment on politics. In August 2020, he was detained and beaten while en route to protest the presidential election. In March 2022, after a year in pretrial detention for his painting of an anti-Soviet soldier, Pushkin was sentenced…
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DetainedAlex Barga
Editor, Literary writer, Poet, PublisherMozambiqueSub-Saharan AfricaAlex Barga is a Mozambican poet, writer, editor, and publisher who was arrested without a warrant on January 12, 2025 in Marracuene District alongside others. He was later confirmed to be in custody and is currently detained in Maputo following charges of “planning a coup d’état,” which he denies. His…
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.