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
Recorded HarassmentWael Abbas
Activist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaKnown for his blogging to expose police brutality, Abbas was detained in May 2018 on charges of terrorism and dissemination of false news until he was conditionally released in December 2018. In April 2020, Abbas was briefly detained for posting images to his Facebook page. His phone and camera were…
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ImprisonedWahitjan Osman
Editor, PoetChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificOsman, a Uyghur poet, was arrested without charge in 2018 and detained in one of the many Uyghur reeducation camps. In May 2021, he was convicted on “separatism” charges for allegedly “incorporating extremist separatist thoughts into children’s educational materials.” In 2023, Osman was reportedly sentenced to 15 years in prison.…
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ImprisonedWai Moe Naing
Activist, Journalist, Literary writerMyanmarAsia-PacificA writer and member of PEN Myanmar, Wai Moe Naing rose to prominence as an anti-coup protest leader in Monywa for his role in organizing daily demonstrations. On April 15, 2021, he was beaten, arrested, and detained, and was handed down sentences in both August and October 2022. On April…
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ImprisonedWaleed Abu Al-Khair
Activist, Journalist, Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Khair was the first activist prosecuted under a new Saudi Arabian law that introduced overly broad definitions of terrorism, such that it can be applied to speech. In June 2014, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, which was increased to 15 years in July 2024, on charges of…
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ImprisonedWalid al-Tabtabie
Online CommentatorKuwaitMiddle East and North AfricaFrom 2011-2019, Walid al-Tabtabtie, a former Member of Parliament, was exiled to Turkey and faced various legal actions for storming Kuwait’s parliament to protest lawmakers being denied the right to question then-prime minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah over corruption allegations. On May 12, 2024, Al-Tabtabie was arrested for an Twitter…
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ReleasedWang Aizhong
Activist, Online CommentatorChinaAsia-PacificWang, a well-known activist during the 2013 protests in Guangzhou and online commentator, was detained ahead of the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen protests in May 2021, likely because of his tweets regarding social justice and pandemic control. He was formally charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” in July…
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Recorded HarassmentWang Fang
Literary writer, Online CommentatorChinaAsia-PacificWang Fang, who also goes by the pen name Fang Fang, is known for her book Wuhan Diary, which documented daily life during the city’s COVID-19 lockdown. Fang Fang has been subjected to online abuse, death threats, and censorship. Her Weibo account was temporarily suspended due to her writings. Despite…
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ImprisonedWang Gang
Online CommentatorChinaAsia-PacificWang, known as Noah’s Ark, is a former associate professor at Hubei University of Technology who created multiple WeChat groups since 2018 including “Shanghai People’s Rights Defending” and “Chinese People’s Rights Defending,” in which he posted commentary calling on the Chinese Communist Party to fight corruption. He is currently held…
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ReleasedWang Jianmin
Journalist, Literary writerChinaAsia-PacificWang, a U.S. national, was sentenced to five years in prison in 2014 on business-related charges for publishing two political gossip magazines. He was released in March 2019 upon the expiry of his sentence.
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.