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
-
Status
ReleasedBarış Yüksel
Creative artist, Singer/SongwriterTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaBarış Yüksel, a member of the controversial activist collective and band Grup Yorum, began a hunger strike in May 2019 to protest his imprisonment and was released from prison in February 2020 after his health deteriorated. In 2021, he was re-arrested twice and detained again in December following a raid…
-
Status
AcquittedBarshashree Buragohain
Online Commentator, Poet, ScholarIndiaAsia-PacificBuragohain, an undergraduate student, writes poetry and shares it on her Facebook account. She was arrested on May 18, 2022 for writing an allegedly “anti-national poem” titled Akou Korim Rashtra Droh which translates to Will Again Rebel Against the Nation. She was charged under Sections 10 and 13 for alleged…
-
Status
Conditional ReleaseBayan Azizi
Activist, Literary writer, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaA Kurdish poet, writer and women’s rights activist, Azizi has done extensive research on honor killings and domestic violence. She is also a doctoral student of international law and has contributed to academic publications. Azizi was summoned to the Sanandaj Intelligence Department where she was transferred to a detention center…
-
Status
ReleasedBayram Kaya
Journalist, Literary writerTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaBayram Kaya, who exposed the complicity of the Turkish intelligence service in the murder of journalist Hrant Dink, was detained in a sweep of journalists following the failed 2016 coup. His articles, books, and tweets were used to sentence him to six years and three months in prison for “membership…
-
Status
ReleasedBefekadu Hailu
Online CommentatorEthiopiaSub-Saharan AfricaHailu is one of the Zone 9 Bloggers, a group formed in 2012 to publish political commentary online in the face of tightening restrictions on expression. Following his initial arrest in 2014, he was acquitted of terrorism charges. On February 14, 2018, Ethiopian prosecutors dropped incitement charges against him and…
-
Status
Displaced/In ExileBehnaz Amani
Literary writer, Online Commentator, Poet, ScholarIranMiddle East and North AfricaScholar and poet Behnaz Amani was arrested in October 2022 and indicted with “conspiracy against national security” in November for supporting the protests. Her cervical cancer advanced during her time in jail as she was denied treatment. She was released in December on bail; her sentence was changed to a…
-
Status
ImprisonedBehrad Ali Kenari
Singer/SongwriterIranMiddle East and North AfricaBehrad Ali Kenari is a rapper from Ahwaz known for his protest rap songs. He was first arrested in November 2022 in connection with protests in the country in the case of Ruholla Ajamian, who was killed in the Karaj riots. While he was released on amnesty on April 7,…
-
Status
Displaced/In ExileBehrouz Boochani
Activist, Journalist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorAustralia/Papua New GuineaAsia-PacificBoochani, a Kurdish-Iranian writer, was detained in a refugee transit center in Papua New Guinea and faced harassment for his reporting on the human rights issues at the Manus Island Regional Processing Center. In July 2020, he was granted asylum in New Zealand. He later published Freedom, Only Freedom, a…
-
Status
ReleasedBehrouz Yasemi
Online Commentator, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaOn October 17, 2022, Behrouz Yasemi, a Kurdish poet from Ivangharb, was arrested at his workplace in Tehran for unknown reasons shortly after posting a video in which he recited a poem about Mahsa Amini, the young woman whose custodial death sparked a series of 2022 protests both in Iran…
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.