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
Displaced/In ExileArzu Demir
Journalist, Literary writerTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaA literary writer and journalist, Demir was sentenced to 6 years in prison for writing two books titled “Dağın Kadın Hali (Womanly State of the Mountain)” and “Devrimin Rojava Hali (Revolution’s State of Rojava). She was accused of glorifying terrorists. She appealed the verdict but the court reversed the decision…
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DetainedAsad Ali Toor
Journalist, Online CommentatorPakistanAsia-PacificOpinion journalist and vlogger Toor has a large following on social media, where he has critically spoken of Pakistan’s chief justice and military. In 2021, he was attacked and beaten by three unknown assailants in a home invasion. In February 2024, Toor was arrested for attempting to “incite violence” through…
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Displaced/In ExileAsal Abasian
Journalist, Literary writer, TranslatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaA queer journalist and writer, Abasian was forced to flee Iran in 2021 after being interrogated and receiving multiple death threats due to their writing, journalistic work, and activism. Exiled in Paris, Asal continues to write and to advocate for imprisoned writers and journalists and speaking out against the Iranian…
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On TrialAseem Trivedi
Activist, Creative artist, Literary writerIndiaAsia-PacificTrivedi launched the campaign Cartoons Against Corruption in 2011. In January 2012, he was charged with sedition and defamation in connection with his cartoons and spent the majority of the next three years in court. He is continuing his activism, but remains on trial.
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ReleasedAshraf Fayadh
Creative artist, Literary writer, PoetSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaFayadh, a poet and artist, was jailed on charges of apostasy for writing about humanistic themes in his poetry collection Instructions Within, which explores Fayadh’s experience as a Palestinian refugee in Saudi Arabia. After an outcry, his initial death sentence in 2015 was reduced to eight years in prison on…
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ReleasedAshraf Hamdi
Creative artist, Online CommentatorEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaA political commentator and cartoonist, Ashraf Hamdi was arrested on January 25, 2021 after reposting a cartoon for the 10-year anniversary of the 2011 uprising which led to the overthrew of Hosni Mubarak. After months of imprisonment, Hamdi was quietly released in late 2021, and now continues to be active…
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Recorded HarassmentAshraful Hussain
Poet, ScholarIndiaAsia-PacificHussain is one of the “Miya” (Bengali-language Muslim) poets charged in July 2019 after the online publication of a poem by Hafiz Ahmed that authorities claimed promoted sectarian enmity in the state of Assam. On July 17, 2019, all ten poets were granted anticipatory bail. He is currently a MLA…
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Displaced/In ExileAslı Erdoğan
Journalist, Literary writerTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaNovelist and occasional columnist for pro-Kurdish Özgür Gündem, Erdoğan was detained after the 2016 coup attempt. Conditionally released four months later, she escaped to Germany. In February 2020, she was formally acquitted, but this was appealed in June. In February 2022, a court decided to uphold her acquittal. In 2023,…
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DetainedAsma Al-Subaie
Online Commentator, ScholarSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Subaie is a student and human rights defender who has advocated for the Bedouin minority and for women’s rights. In June 2021, her home was raided and she was arrested for her online postings condemning the severe punishments against activists advocating reforms to Saudi Arabia’s guardianship system. She has been…
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.