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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Status
ReleasedZelalem Kiberet
Online CommentatorEthiopiaSub-Saharan AfricaKiberet is one of the Zone 9 Bloggers, a group formed in 2012 to publish political commentary online in the face of tightening restrictions on expression. Following his initial arrest in 2014, he was released in 2015. He and fellow bloggers faced terrorism charges that were later dropped. Their arrests…
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ReleasedZeya Aung
Poet, ScholarMyanmarAsia-PacificZeya Aung and Aung Than collaboratively wrote a book of poems and were subsequently arrested on politically motivated charges. Others involved in the production of the book were also arrested. Originally sentenced to 19 years in prison, Zeya Aung was released under amnesty. Their case drew international concern and highlighted…
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ImprisonedZhang Guiqi
Online Commentator, PoetChinaAsia-PacificPoet Zhang was taken into police custody in May 2020 and charged with “inciting subversion of state power” a month later; authorities cited a video where he called for Xi Jinping to step down. In July 2022, after nine months of trial delays, Zhang was sentenced to six years in…
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ReleasedZhang Jialong
Journalist, Online CommentatorChinaAsia-PacificZhang was detained in August 2019 in relation to his outspoken criticism of Chinese government censorship. The court accepted his tweets on digital freedom as evidence, and, on January 8, 2021, he was handed an 18-month sentence for “picking quarrels and provoking troubles.” Taking into account time served, Zhang was…
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DeceasedZhang Jianhong
Dramatist, Journalist, PoetChinaAsia-PacificLeading dissident writer Zhang spent two years in a labor camp in the late ’90s. He was imprisoned again in September 2006 for his critical writings and was denied medical treatment until his release in June 2010. Zhang, a regular contributor to Boxun and The Epoch Times and founding editor…
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ReleasedZhang Wenfang
Online Commentator, PoetChinaAsia-PacificZhang Wenfang posted poems about the Wuhan COVID-19 lockdown. She was initially detained for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and later sentenced to six months in prison for “knowingly spreading false information and causing serious disruption to public order.” She was released on October 6, 2020. A February 2021 article…
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ImprisonedZhang Xiaodong
Online CommentatorChinaAsia-PacificOnline commentator Zhang was arrested by the Chinese authorities and charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” for comments he made on WeChat, Moments, and QQ chat groups. Zhang was discussing topics related to democracy. He has been in detention awaiting trial since November 15, 2022. In May 2024, he…
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ReleasedZhang Xuezhong
Literary writer, Online Commentator, ScholarChinaAsia-PacificZhang Xuezhong was detained by police after he published a letter calling on the National People’s Congress to draft a new constitution and criticized their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was detained the night of May 10, 2020 and released less than two days later. In February 2021, he…
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DetainedZhang Yadi
Activist, Online Commentator, PoetChinaAsia-PacificZhang Yadi, also known as Tara, is a Chinese writer and activist who wrote for and edited the Chinese-language blog, “Chinese Youth Stand for Tibet.” In July 2025, she was detained under national security charges when she returned to China following university studies in France and before graduate studies in…
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.