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
Conditional ReleaseAndrei Filipchyk
Activist, Online CommentatorBelarusEurope and Central AsiaFilipchyk is an online activist who runs a Telegram channel where he posts jokes and memes in Belarusian. On January 31, 2023 he was arrested and a criminal case was brought against him for allegedly “promoting the Latin alphabet and hatred for the Russophone…space” and participating in “unauthorized mass events.”…
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ImprisonedAndrei Novashov
Journalist, Online CommentatorRussiaEurope and Central AsiaNovashov, a journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained in March 2022 for “false information” in his online commentary. In March 2023, he was sentenced to 8 months of corrective labor and banned from journalistic activities for a year. His appeal was rejected in March 2024. In the same…
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Continued HarassmentAndrej Nikolaidis
Journalist, Literary writerMontenegroEurope and Central AsiaNikolaidis is a writer and columnist. Following the publication of a politically charged column in August 2022, he received harassment from the government, with the Prime Minister personally condemning him. In March 2024, an effigy of the writer was to be burned at a local carnival.
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ReleasedAndrey Luhin
Creative artist, Singer/SongwriterBelarusEurope and Central AsiaDuring a street rally on August 20, 2020 both members of the band LAUDANS, Luhin and Alena Palachanskaya had their instruments confiscated. On October 16, 2020 both were detained where they were supposed to play on suspicions of being drunk, but were released after a conversation with the police officers.…
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Displaced/In ExileAndrey Yanushkevich
Literary writer, Publisher, ScholarBelarusEurope and Central AsiaAuthor and publisher Yanushkevich was detained on May 16, 2022 after police raided his home, looking for “extremist materials.” Two hundred copies of George Orwell’s 1984 were confiscated, and his publishing house’s bookshop later had to shut down. He was detained under administrative arrest for 28 days. In the following…
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ReleasedAndrus Takindang
Creative artist, PoetBelarusEurope and Central AsiaAndrus Takindang and several other musicians in the band “Recha” were detained after playing at a yard gathering in Minsk and later sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest. After they were released, Takindang described the detention as a small price to pay for the joy their music brings to…
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ImprisonedAndrzej Poczobut
Activist, Creative artist, Journalist, Literary writer, Online Commentator, PoetBelarusEurope and Central AsiaBelarusian-Polish political writer and minority rights activist Poczobut comments on politics in his blog and columns, for Polish newspapers, and has published a book on Lukashenka’s impact. He was detained on March 25, 2021 for “incitement to racial, national, or religious hatred or discord.” In February 2023, he was sentenced…
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ReleasedAndy Hall
Activist, ScholarThailandAsia-PacificA UK national, labor activist, researcher, and writer Hall was tried in 2013 for both criminal and civil defamation for his investigative reports alleging abuse by National Fruit Company Limited, a Thai fruit processing company. In late 2015, charges were dismissed.
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Continued HarassmentÁngel Santiesteban Prats
Literary writer, Online CommentatorCubaAmericasRenowned author Santiesteban has been subject to consistent harassment for his opposition to the Cuban regime on his blog. He was imprisoned from 2012-2017 for openly criticizing Raul Castro. Since his incarceration, he has become an outspoken advocate for free expression. Santiesteban has continued to endure renewed harassment following the…
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.