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 often uses his Twitter account to write opinion commentary on the country’s public matters. He was physically restrained from speaking publicly and threatened with violence. In 2022, Al-Rasheed was summoned to appear before a public prosecutor. No details were provided. On the evening of August 26,…
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Displaced/In ExileAnwar Hayati
Activist, Online CommentatorKuwaitMiddle East and North AfricaBidoon activist Anwar Hayati was fired from his job as a doctor at Mubarak al-Kabeer Hospital on October 11, 2020, for publicly criticizing the government health sector. After being reinstated in September 2021, Hayati was fined 500 dinars in August 2022 for speeches he gave at Bidoon protests. Hayati then…
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ReleasedAnwar Rostom
Literary writer, Online Commentator, ScholarIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaTeacher, writer, and board member of the Bayt al-Maqdis Center for Literature Anwar Rostom was arrested on January 10, 2024, from her family home in Ramallah for posts she published on her Facebook account. In November 2024, she was charged with incitement to violence and sentenced to one year in…
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Continued 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. Four days later, over 1,300 people, including a member of parliament, issued a public appeal condemning the…
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ReleasedAql Al-Bahili
Journalist, Literary writer, ScholarSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaSaudi Arabian professor, 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. He was subsequently denied access to a lawyer or…
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Conditional ReleaseAqylbek Muratbai
Activist, Online CommentatorKazakhstanEurope and Central AsiaAqylbek Muratbai, a Karakalpak activist living in Kazakhstan, was arrested at his home in Almaty on February 15, 2024, at the Uzbek government’s request and charged with “public calls to violence” and “production or demonstration of materials containing a threat to public safety.” An Almaty court initially ordered him held…
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DetainedAram Baleki
Online Commentator, Singer/SongwriterIranMiddle East and North AfricaKurdish folk singer and songwriter Aram Baleki was arrested on December 20, 2024, and taken to an unknown location. While the reasons for his arrest were initially unclear, it was later reported that it was likely due to his anti-government social media posts and his absence from a mandatory Yalda…
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Displaced/In ExileAram Fathi
Activist, Literary writer, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaAram Fathi, 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…
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AcquittedAras 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 on alleged espionage charges. Temporarily released during the COVID-19 pandemic, her sentence was upheld in May 2020, and she was ordered back to prison. In July…
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.