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
DisappearedAli Al-Shihabi
Literary writer, Online CommentatorSyriaMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Shihabi, a Syrian-Palestinian political analyst, writer, and blogger, was arrested in December 2012 by the Palestine Branch of Syrian Military Intelligence. He was reportedly detained incommunicado, and his location remained unknown for years. There have been unconfirmed reports suggesting that Al-Shihabi may have died under torture in custody as of…
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ImprisonedAli Aracı
Creative artist, Singer/SongwriterTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaMusician Aracı is a member of activist collective and band Grup Yorum who plays the flute and kaval. The band has angered Turkish authorities and members face serious threats. Aracı was arrested in June 2019, and released in September 2020, but rearrested and released the following month. He was again…
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ReleasedAli Asadollahi
Literary writer, Online Commentator, Poet, TranslatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaA noted poet and the secretary of the Iranian Writers’ Association, Asadollahi was detained on November 21, 2022 after he had published poems on his website about a teenager named Nika Shakarami who was found dead after attending a protest. During his imprisonment, Asadollahi was held incommunicado for weeks, placed…
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Status
Conditional ReleaseAli Bahrampour
Literary writer, TranslatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaA literary writer and translator, Bahrampour was arrested on November 3, 2022. After 78 days of detention he was released. He was sentenced to over 8 years in prison on charges of “destabilizing national security,” “insulting the supreme leader,” and “distribution of misinformation,” among other charges. He is under a…
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ConvictedAli Bulaç
Journalist, ScholarTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaA former columnist for the shuttered Zaman newspaper, Bulaç was one of many journalists rounded up after the failed 2016 coup in Türkiye. He spent over a year in pre-trial detention on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization.” After a lengthy legal process, he was sentenced to two years…
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ImprisonedAli Ünal
Journalist, Literary writer, Scholar, TranslatorTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaA columnist at the daily Zaman, Ünal was arrested in August 2016 during a purge of followers of exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen following the coup attempt. Ünal had previously translated many of Gülen’s works into English. He is serving a 19 year sentence on charges of “founding and leading an…
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ReleasedAliaksandr Novikau
Literary writer, Online CommentatorBelarusEurope and Central AsiaA historian and blogger, Novikau was arrested on June 27, 2022 for publishing articles on his website that aim at revising history. He was convicted and found guilty of leaking personal data of employees of internal affairs bodies. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment in a closed door court…
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Continued HarassmentAlina Bárbara López Hernández
Journalist, Literary writer, Online Commentator, ScholarCubaAmericasOn December 12, 2023, scholar Alina Bárbara López Hernández was fined 7,000 Cuban Pesos for “disobedience.” On April 18, 2024, she was arrested at the Bacunayagua checkpoint and forcibly removed from her vehicle, sustaining multiple serious injuries. On June 18, 2024, López was detained for 11 hours while traveling to…
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Conditional ReleaseAlireza Adineh
Activist, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaA poet and active member of the Iranian Writers’ Association, Reza Adineh was arrested on November 30, 2022, just one week after being summoned and threatened during an interrogation by the Ministry of Information. His arrest was accompanied by a raid on his home, during which authorities confiscated personal belongings,…
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.