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 ReleaseBergün Varan
Creative artist, Singer/SongwriterTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaVaran is a member of activist collective and band Grup Yorum, whose critical songs have angered the Turkish government since its inception. She has been arrested and detained multiple times in raids on the band’s cultural center and conditionally released, often after months in detention. She was most recently detained…
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Bergün Varan Grup Yorum
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DetainedBerhane Abrehe
Literary writerEritreaSub-Saharan AfricaA former top government official, Abrehe was arrested in September 2018, barely a week after he published a book criticizing Eritrea’s autocracy. Abrehe’s continued detention calls into question Eritrea’s commitment to reform following a historic peace deal with Ethiopia.
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ReleasedBernardo Arévalo Padrón
Activist, JournalistCubaAmericasArévalo was arrested in 1997 and sentenced to six years in prison for insulting Fidel Castro. He was released in 2003 and arrested again in 2014 and briefly detained for his reporting work for an opposition newspaper.
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Conditional ReleaseBigeldy Gabdullin
Journalist, Literary writer, TranslatorKazakhstanEurope and Central AsiaPresident of the Kazakh PEN Club, Gabdullin was detained in November 2016 after a career of criticizing government officials in the media. He pled guilty to charges of extortion and is now under probationary supervision.
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ImprisonedBilal Al-Saadi
Creative artistIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaThe founder and chairperson of the Freedom Theater in Jenin, Al-Saadi was arrested at a military checkpoint by the Israeli Defense Forces on September 11, 2022. Later in the month, he was sentenced to 6 months administrative detention on undisclosed charges, and without a trial.
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ImprisonedBo Bo Htoo
Activist, Literary writer, Online Commentator, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificBo Bo Htoo, a poet and literary writer, was arrested at his home on November 15, 2021 by military authorities and first sent to an interrogation camp. He was later sentenced to two years in prison on July 10, 2022.
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Bo Bo Htoo Chaw Ba Thit
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Under ThreatBoris Bulgakov
PoetRussiaEurope and Central AsiaIn September 2022, a group of poets took part in the regular Mayakovsky Readings in Moscow. Bulgakov was arrested in front of his home in the evening by plainclothes police and sentenced to 10 days in prison. He served 6 days on appeal and was given draft summons despite medical…
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.