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
Conditional ReleaseAllan Au Ka-lun
Journalist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorChina/Hong KongAsia-PacificAu is an author, columnist, journalist known for his regular commentary in the now-shuttered Stand News and Hong Kong’s Ming Pao newspaper. He also comments on politics and society on social media and his website 潮池. Detained on April 11, 2022 on suspicion of conspiring to publish seditious materials, Au…
-
Status
MurderedAllinda Michael
Activist, Creative artistUgandaSub-Saharan AfricaZiggy Wine was kidnapped in July 2019; his mutilated body was found one week later and he died in hospital shortly after. His family believes the state played a role in his murder, as he was a vocal supporter of opposition politician and fellow musician Bobi Wine.
-
Status
Allinda Michael Ziggy Wine
-
Status
Conditional ReleaseAlnur Ilyashev
Activist, Online CommentatorKazakhstanEurope and Central AsiaDetained in April 2020, Ilyashev was sentenced in June to three years of restricted freedom and a five year ban on political activism for Facebook posts criticizing the Kazakh government’s pandemic response. He attempted to run as a candidate in Kazakhstan’s 2023 elections, but a court refused to register him.…
-
Status
DetainedAlsu Kurmasheva
Editor, JournalistRussiaEurope and Central AsiaKurmasheva, a Russian-American reporter with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was briefly held at the airport in June 2023, and then charged with failing to register as a foreign agent and detained in October. In December, a criminal case was filed on charges of false information about the military, related to…
-
Status
DetainedAmanuel Asrat
Journalist, Literary writer, Poet, Singer/SongwriterEritreaSub-Saharan AfricaAsrat has been detained incommunicado since 2001 in a sweeping crackdown on print media folllowing the September 11 attacks. During his peripatetic career, he has published poetry, songs, and criticism, and served as founding editor-in-chief for Zemen.
-
Status
ReleasedAmer Abdel Moneim
Journalist, Online CommentatorEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaMoneim writes political opinion articles that have included criticism of President El-Sisi’s policies. In December 2020, he was arrested and charged with “spreading false news” and “participating in terrorist activities,” citing his social media posts. He was pardoned and released in May 2022. Throughout his pre-trial detention, he suffered medical…
-
Status
Custodial/Wrongful DeathAmin El-Mahdy
Literary writer, Online Commentator, PublisherEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaEl-Mahdy, a writer and publisher, was arrested on September 9, 2020 because of a Facebook post calling the Egyptian President “a murderer, traitor, coward, and thief.” He was released on September 30 because of an unknown illness and was transferred to a hospital October 11, where he died.
-
Status
Conditional ReleaseAmin Moradi
PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaMoradi, a poet and member of the Iranian Writers’ Association, was arbitrarily arrested and detained on November 28, 2020 in a home raid. Authorities confiscated his devices and books and took him to Evin prison. He was released conditionally on December 8, 2020.
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.