Writers At Risk
PEN’s bedrock work is long-term advocacy on behalf of individual writers who are being persecuted because of their work. This page features several of our highest priority cases. With the help of our members and supporters, we are carrying out campaigns to win their release and ensure they are safe and can write and publish freely.
Take a moment to share information about these writers and take action on their behalf.
This is only a small sampling of writers under threat around the world. Click here for the most recent PEN International case list.
Aung Myint | Status: Released | Myanmar
Aung Myint (also known as Phya Pon Ni Loan Oo) is a journalist, poet, and head of the information department of the National League for Democracy (NLD). Aung started… More
Zaw Thet Htwe | Status: Released | Myanmar
Zaw Thet Htwe, respected journalist and political advocate, worked as an editor and journalist at First Eleven Sports News, a popular sports journal Burma. After Cyclone Nargis struck on… More
Muhammad Bekjanov | Status: Released | Uzbekistan
A prominent Uzbek journalist in the period immediately following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Muhammad Bekjanov came to be recognized as a leading voice in the struggle for… More
Dzamshid Karimov | Status: Disappeared | Uzbekistan
Dzamshid Karimov is a journalist who was held in psychiatric detention for over a year. He is known for being an outspoken critic of the government, and for his… More
Ruslan Sharipov | Status: In Exile | Uzbekistan
Ruslan Sharipov was one of several dozen students chosen to participate in a government-sponsored exchange program with U.S. universities in the fall of 1999. When Uzbek authorities canceled that… More
Ragip Zarakolu | Status: On Trial | Turkey
Ragip Zarakolu, director and owner of Belge Publishing House and a longtime activist against censorship, is on trial for "aiding and abetting an illegal organization" under Turkey's sweeping anti-terror… More
Nay Phone Latt | Status: Released | Myanmar
Nay Phone Latt, an influential Burmese blogger and poet, was released on January 13, 2013, during a widespread amnesty. He had spent nearly four years behind bars for his… More
Lê Chi Quang | Status: Released | Vietnam
Lê Chi Quang is a lawyer and computer teacher who has written several essays criticizing the government. These essays were distributed through the Internet. More
Alert Us
To any writer artist who is at risk, or is in need of assistance, including those denied entry into the U.S. as a result of the latest Trump Administration travel ban. 
PEN America On 
As an organization deeply invested in the rights of writers worldwide, we are compelled to hold President Trump accountable for his repeated violations of the freedom of the press enshrined in the First Amendment. https://t.co/q5nJXduJn2
Words are powerful weapons too—as Trump’s efforts to quash them attest. In keeping with PEN America’s founding mission, we mean to stand together and show our strength. https://t.co/4kMLpPElX6