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
ImprisonedZhang Guiqi
Online Commentator, PoetChinaAsia-PacificPoet Zhang was taken into police custody in May 2020 and charged with “inciting subversion of state power” a month later; authorities cited a video where he called for Xi Jinping to step down. In July 2022, after nine months of trial delays, Zhang was sentenced to six years in…
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ReleasedZhang Jialong
Journalist, Online CommentatorChinaAsia-PacificZhang was detained in August 2019 in relation to his outspoken criticism of Chinese government censorship. The court accepted his tweets on digital freedom as evidence, and, on January 8, 2021, he was handed an 18-month sentence for “picking quarrels and provoking troubles.” Taking into account time served, Zhang was…
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DeceasedZhang Jianhong
Dramatist, Journalist, PoetChinaAsia-PacificLeading dissident writer Zhang spent two years in a labor camp in the late ’90s. He was imprisoned again in September 2006 for his critical writings and was denied medical treatment until his release in June 2010. Zhang, a regular contributor to Boxun and The Epoch Times and founding editor…
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ReleasedZhang Wenfang
Online Commentator, PoetChinaAsia-PacificZhang Wenfang posted poems about the Wuhan COVID-19 lockdown. She was initially detained for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and later sentenced to six months in prison for “knowingly spreading false information and causing serious disruption to public order.” She was released on October 6, 2020. A February 2021 article…
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ImprisonedZhang Xiaodong
Online CommentatorChinaAsia-PacificOnline commentator Zhang was arrested by the Chinese authorities and charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” for comments he made on WeChat, Moments, and QQ chat groups. Zhang was discussing topics related to democracy. He has been in detention awaiting trial since November 15, 2022. In May 2024, he…
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ReleasedZhang Xuezhong
Literary writer, Online Commentator, ScholarChinaAsia-PacificZhang Xuezhong was detained by police after he published a letter calling on the National People’s Congress to draft a new constitution and criticized their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was detained the night of May 10, 2020 and released less than two days later. In February 2021, he…
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DetainedZhang Zhan
Online CommentatorChinaAsia-PacificAfter seven months in pretrial detention, on December 28, 2020, a court sentenced Zhang, a citizen journalist covering COVID-19, to four years in prison for “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble.” The indictment cites her reporting and overseas interviews. Zhang went on hunger strike in prison, transitioning from a full…
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Conditional ReleaseZhao Baahuu
Online Commentator, PoetChinaAsia-PacificZhao was released from detention but remains confined to house arrest as of October 2019 after publishing poems entitled “Dark Night Journey” and “Mongolian Grassland” that criticized China’s treatment of its ethnic minorities. He has since remained incommunicado, with reports suggesting ongoing surveillance and restrictions tied to his ethnic Mongolian…
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ImprisonedZhenya Berkovich
Creative artist, PoetRussiaEurope and Central AsiaTheater director and poet Zhenya Berkovich was detained for allegedly “justifying terrorism” in her play Finist, the Bright Falcon. She was arrested along with Svetlana Petriychuk on May 4, 2023 and held in extended pre-trial detention. The play was about women who meet jihadists on the internet to go to…
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.