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
DetainedZhou Guoqiang
Activist, Online Commentator, PoetChinaAsia-PacificZhou (pen name Aqu Qiangba) is a poet and editor of Today. He was previously detained for seven months in 1989 for organizing a strike, and sentenced to three years in a labor camp in 1994 for engaging in labor movement propaganda. After a failed escape attempt, he was given…
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ReleasedZhou Yuanzhi
Journalist, Literary writerChinaAsia-PacificZhou Yuanzhi has published political commentaries and short stories in Hong Kong and in overseas Chinese-language publications. Initially detained in 2017, he was sentenced in June 2019 to four and a half years in prison. While imprisoned, his health gravely deteriorated, including the development of heart tumors and other serious…
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Displaced/In ExileZhu Yufu
PoetChinaAsia-PacificDissident poet Zhu Yufu served seven years in prison due to his poetry and was released in early 2018. In September 2018, he was briefly detained for “subversion of state power.” In March 2021, his political rights were restored after four years of deprivation from his previous imprisonment. In 2024,…
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ReleasedZiyad Al-Sofiani
Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Sofiani was a high-ranking Wikipedia volunteer administrator with privileged access to edit protected pages. He was detained in 2020 and sentenced to eight years in prison. Reports indicate that Al-Sofiani, along with his colleague Osama Khaled, had edited Wikipedia pages for Loujain al-Hathloul and other prominent dissidents and activists in…
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Displaced/In ExileZoran Mutić
Journalist, Literary writer, TranslatorBosnia and HerzegovinaEurope and Central AsiaProminent translator Zoran Mutić, known for protesting the rise of Serbian nationalism during the Balkan Wars, fled Sarajevo in 1992, just before the siege of the Bosnian capital by the Serbian army. He has lived in exile ever since.
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DeceasedZouhair Yahyaoui
JournalistTunisiaMiddle East and North AfricaFounder of TUNeZINE.com Yahyaoui was arrested in a cybercafe on charges of ‘false news’ and unauthorized use of the internet in June 2000. Having served half his sentence, he was released conditionally in 2003. On March 13, 2005, Yahyaoui passed away due to cardiac arrest. His site became a major…
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DetainedZuhair Kutbi
Journalist, ScholarSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaKutbi was re-imprisoned in January 2019 as part of a broader crackdown on dissident journalists, after previously serving a two-year sentence from 2015 to 2017 on charges of “inciting against the state.” Reports suggest he endured torture, malnutrition, and denial of cancer treatment while incarcerated. His current health status remains…
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Recorded HarassmentZulkifli Anwar Ulhaque
Creative artistMalaysiaAsia-PacificPolitical cartoonist Zunar faces sedition charges filed in January 2021 for his satirical cartoon criticizing the government’s cancellation of Thaipusam, an annual Hindu festival. Zunar previously faced 43 years in prison on sedition charges for tweets about government corruption. He was detained for four days during the investigation and faced…
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.