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 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…
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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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ConvictedArash Ghaleh-Golab
Journalist, Literary writer, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaArash Ghaleh-Golab is a poet and columnist. In May 2022, he was beaten and arrested at a mourning ceremony for victims of the Abadan building collapse. He was released on bail in June. In March 2025, he was tried in court along with a group of other writers for his…
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Conditional ReleaseArash Ramezani
Literary writer, Online Commentator, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaIranian literary writer and poet Arash 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, when he was released on bail. He was summoned and briefly detained again…
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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. In August 2020, India’s National Human Rights Commission ordered…
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Status
ReleasedAref Dalila
Journalist, Literary writer, ScholarSyriaMiddle East and North AfricaDalila, an academic economist, 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.