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
-
Status
ImprisonedZangkar Jamyang
Literary writer, Online CommentatorChina/Tibet Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificJamyang is a literary writer and online commentator who has been vocal about the importance of teaching the Tibetan language in schools and actively criticized the Chinese government. He disappeared in June 2020, after being interrogated many times previously and his laptop and mobile phones being searched. It was reported…
-
Status
Conditional ReleaseZarganar
Activist, Creative artist, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificOn April 6, 2021, comedian Zarganar was arrested by the military junta in a broader campaign against cultural figures following the February 2021 military coup. He was released conditionally on October 18, 2021 after over six months in arbitrary detention. A decade earlier, in 2011, Zarganar was released under a…
-
Status
ReleasedZaw Lin Htut
Creative artist, Online Commentator, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificZaw Lin Htut is a member of the Peacock Generation satirical poetry troupe that specializes in the traditional art form of Thangyat, a type of slam poetry. In December 2021, he was arrested by military officers while on his way to a protest. He was sentenced to three years in…
-
Status
ReleasedZaw Thet Htwe
Activist, JournalistMyanmarAsia-PacificZaw Thet Htwe was arrested without charge, but his detention came shortly after he and comedian Zarganar engaged in private disaster relief following a cyclone. He was arrested as part of a broad crackdown on attempts to report from regions hit hardest by the disaster.
-
Status
ReleasedZay Yar Lwin
Creative artist, Online Commentator, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificZay Yar Lwin is a member of the Peacock Generation, a satirical poetry troupe specializing in a type of slam poetry known as Thangyat. While he was initially sentenced to one year in prison under section 505(a) of the Penal Code, his sentence was repeatedly increased throughout 2019 and 2020.…
-
Status
ReleasedZechariah Makuach Maror
Journalist, Online CommentatorSouth SudanSub-Saharan AfricaZechariah Makuach Maror, a columnist in several local dailies, was arrested on April 18, 2020 for alleged defamation in his writing and social media posts criticizing South Sudan’s Ministry of Finance. On September 14, 2020, he was fined and sentenced to a year in prison for criminal defamation. On December…
-
Status
ReleasedZehra Doğan
Creative artist, Journalist, PoetTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaIn July 2016, Zehra Doğan was arrested for creating a painting of Turkish city Nusaybin bombarded by state security forces. In 2017, she was sentenced to nearly three years in prison for spreading “terrorist propaganda.” After 600 days in prison, on February 24, 2019, Doğan was released. As of 2021,…
-
Status
ReleasedZelalem Kiberet
Online CommentatorEthiopiaSub-Saharan AfricaKiberet is one of the Zone 9 Bloggers, a group formed in 2012 to publish political commentary online in the face of tightening restrictions on expression. Following his initial arrest in 2014, he was released in 2015. He and fellow bloggers faced terrorism charges that were later dropped. Their arrests…
-
Status
ReleasedZeya Aung
Poet, ScholarMyanmarAsia-PacificZeya Aung and Aung Than collaboratively wrote a book of poems and were subsequently arrested on politically motivated charges. Others involved in the production of the book were also arrested. Originally sentenced to 19 years in prison, Zeya Aung was released under amnesty. Their case drew international concern and highlighted…
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.