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
Continued HarassmentAnwar Al-Rasheed
Activist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorKuwaitMiddle East and North AfricaProminent Kuwaiti activist Al-Rasheed ofen uses his Twitter account to write opinion commentary on the country’s public matters. He was physically restrained from speaking publically and threatened with violence. He has also been a victim of online harassment.
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Recorded HarassmentApoorvanand Jha
Journalist, ScholarIndiaAsia-PacificOn August 3, 2020, Jha, a Hindi professor known for his criticism of the Indian government’s passing of the controversial 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act, was questioned for five hours by the Delhi police. His interrogation is linked to the wider investigation into the north-east Delhi riots that took place in…
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ReleasedAql Al-Bahili
Journalist, Literary writer, ScholarSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaProfessor, writer, and journalist, Al-Bahili was arrested in April 2020 after tweeting condolences over the death of a prominent Saudi human rights defender. He was subjected to enforced disappearance for ten days and denied any contact with his family, and then was denied access to a lawyer or information about…
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Conditional ReleaseAram Fathi
Activist, Literary writer, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaFathi, a Kurdish poet, writer, and activist, was arrested and taken to an unknown location on June 17, 2021, after the Iranian intelligence service conducted a raid on his home. He was taken without a proper arrest warrant, held without access to medication for his heart condition, and allegedly tortured…
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ReleasedAras Amiri
ScholarIranMiddle East and North AfricaAmiri showcased work by Iranian artists at the British Council in the U.K. Upon visiting Iran, she was sentenced to ten years in prison for espionage. Temporarily released during the COVID-19 pandemic, her sentence was upheld in May 2020 and she was ordered back to jail. In July 2021, she…
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ReleasedArash Ganji
Literary writer, TranslatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaGanji, a writer, translator, and secretary of the Iranian Writers Association, was detained for 29 days in late 2019. He was sentenced in 2020 to 11 years in prison on national security and propaganda charges for translating a book about a Kurdish-led uprising in northern Syria. After his appeal was…
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Conditional ReleaseArash Ramezani
Literary writer, Online Commentator, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaLiterary writer and poet Ramezani was arrested at his workplace on October 23, 2022 and taken to an unknown location. No charges were brought against him, but he remained in detention until November 7, 2022. Journalist Arash Hashemi reported on his twitter account that Ramezani was released on bail.
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Recorded HarassmentArchana Prasad
Literary writer, ScholarIndiaAsia-PacificWriter and academic Prasad was accused with nine others, including Nandini Sundar, of murdering Shamnath Baghel, who had formerly filed complaints against the group for supporting Maoists and inciting anger against the Indian state. All charges were dropped in early 2019.
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ReleasedAref Dalila
Journalist, Literary writer, ScholarSyriaMiddle East and North AfricaAcademic economist Dalila was arrested in 2001 in relation to his participation in the movement to democratize the Syrian government. In 2002, Dalila was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment on a litany of anti-state charges. He was released in 2008.
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.