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
On TrialArif Yunus
Activist, Literary writer, ScholarAzerbaijanEurope and Central AsiaYunus was sentenced in 2015 on retaliatory charges of financial fraud. He was conditionally released after 4 months in prison due to health concerns, and granted the ability to travel to the Netherlands for treatment. Now in exile, the ECtHR has ruled in favor of Yunus.
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ImprisonedArnon Nampa
Activist, PoetThailandAsia-PacificSince August 2020, Arnon Nampa has been arrested and released on bail several times for his speeches at peaceful protests. In February 2021, he was remanded for violating lèse-majesté laws, sedition, and other charges until he was conditionally released in June. Re-arrested in August 2023, Nampa was sentenced to four…
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Custodial/Wrongful DeathAron Atabek
Activist, Journalist, Literary writer, PoetKazakhstanEurope and Central AsiaActivist, writer, and publisher Atabek was convicted in 2007 of organizing mass disorder and killing a police officer, charges unsupported by sound testimony. While serving his 18 year prison sentence, he managed to write a book, smuggle it out, and have it published in 2012. After serving 15 years of…
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Status
Continued HarassmentArouna Louré
Activist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorBurkina FasoSub-Saharan AfricaLouré, an anesthesiologist, is an outspoken critic of the Burkinabé government. In 2018, he published an essay Burkindi for a new revolution on the increase in political activism, and he has since used Facebook to comment on policies. In September 2023, Louré was arrested under a selectively applied military conscription…
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ImprisonedArtem Kamardin
PoetRussiaEurope and Central AsiaKamardin is a poet belonging to the Kabardian ethnic minority in Russia. He was beaten and violently raped by Russian authorities in September 2022 for his poetry readings during an anti Ukraine-war protest. He was forced to apologize on camera. He was later charged with “inciting hatred,” and was sentenced…
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DetainedArun Ferreira
Creative artist, Literary writer, Singer/SongwriterIndiaAsia-PacificIn August 2018, Ferreira was arrested and detained on politically motivated charges of incitement to violence along with other leftist writer-activists in a coordinated raid. His charge sheet was seized, and his pleas to be granted parole and bail have been repeatedly rejected, despite a court order that authorities move…
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On TrialArundhati Roy
Activist, Literary writerIndiaAsia-PacificWinner of the Man Booker prize and a longtime activist, Roy reported in August 2019 that a court had ordered Delhi police to issue a First Information Report against her for statements on Kashmir, clearing the way for police investigation into her conduct. In October 2023, Roy was charged under…
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DetainedArzhang Davoodi
Activist, Journalist, Poet, ScholarIranMiddle East and North AfricaDavoodi was arrested in 2003 after participating in the production of a documentary entitled Forbidden Iran. After a series of sham trials and convictions, he faced the death penalty and was tortured in prison, suffering serious medical conditions. He was released in March 2023 as part of a mass amnesty…
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.