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.
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Continued HarassmentAmina Mansour
Online CommentatorTunisiaMiddle East and North AfricaAn online commentator and prominent figure in Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, Amina Mansour is facing trial for a Facebook post criticizing the country’s Prime Minister. Mansour was sentenced to six months in prison for the post in May 2022, but is not yet jailed pending her appeal. She continues to faces…
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ReleasedAmir Akhwan
Online Commentator, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaPoet, songwriter, and literary critic Akhwan was arrested in June 2023 by Iranian Security Forces in Rasht for “reciting a campaign poem” on Clubhouse. He posts his poetry on Telegram and supported the 2022 protest movement. Charges against him were not disclosed. He was released by the end of July.
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ReleasedAmirhossein Barimani
Creative artist, Literary writer, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaBarimani was arrested on September 25, 2022 during a wave of arrests following the Iran protests. His family did not know about his whereabouts until days later. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Barimani was released on February 8, 2023 after months of advocacy from organizations and an…
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MurderedAnabel Flores Salazar
JournalistMexicoAmericasFlores Salazar, a journalist covering crime for the newspaper El Sol de Orizaba, was abducted by armed men and found dead along a highway near Veracruz state. Authorities linked her murder to an already-detained member of a drug cartel. They also arrested two suspects.
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Conditional ReleaseAnand Teltumbde
Activist, Literary writer, ScholarIndiaAsia-PacificLeading public intellectual and Dalit activist Teltumbde was charged with inciting caste violence in the village of Bhima Koregaon in 2018, though reports indicate police initiated the conflict. He was taken into custody in April 2020, after his anticipatory bail pleas were rejected. Following multiple rejected bail pleas, he was…
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MurderedAnanta Bijoy Das
Journalist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorBangladeshAsia-PacificSecular writer Das was hacked to death by masked men with machetes in 2015. Seven years passed until any individuals were brought to justice. In March 2022, a Bangladesh court sentenced four people to death for the murder; only one person was in custody at the time. In July 2022,…
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Displaced/In ExileAnastasiya Zakharevich
Journalist, Online CommentatorBelarusEurope and Central AsiaOn September 5, 2020 Zakharevich was detained while taking photos at a rally and convicted to seven days of administrative arrest. On November 5, 2020 she was detained again on the site of the march of people with disabilities, convicted to 15 days of administrative arrest. Soon after her release,…
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Continued HarassmentAnatol Kudlasevich
Creative artist, Literary writer, Poet, Singer/SongwriterBelarusEurope and Central AsiaKudlasevich penned the song “The Anthem of Resistance” that he performed at rallies protesting Lukashenka’s election. He was illegally detained despite ‘disability group 2’ immunity, sentenced to ten days in detention, and fined in August 2020. Twice during 2021, Kudlasevich was interrogated and harassed by KGB and GUBAZIK intelligence officers,…
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.