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 ExileBoris Bulgakov
PoetRussiaEurope and Central AsiaIn September 2022, a group of poets took part in the Mayakovsky Readings in Moscow, an event known for its literary and cultural significance. Bulgakov, a well-known poet, was arrested outside his home by plainclothes police officers. He was charged with participating in unauthorized activities and sentenced to 10 days…
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ImprisonedBoris Kagarlitsky
Online Commentator, ScholarRussiaEurope and Central AsiaKagarlitsky, a Marxist sociologist who posts opinion and commentary online, is vocally opposed to the Russian war in Ukraine. He was designated as a foreign agent in May 2022, and then arrested in November 2023 for “justifying terrorism” and placed in pre-trial detention. He was sentenced to 5 years in…
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DetainedBoualem Sansal
Literary writerAlgeriaMiddle East and North AfricaFrench-Algerian author Boualem Sansal was arrested on November 16, 2024, upon landing in Algiers. Ten days later, with no accesss to legal counsel, he was remanded into custody on national security charges. In December 2024, Sansal was hospitalized for the second time and his lawyer was denied a visa to…
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ImprisonedBui Van Thuan
Online CommentatorVietnamAsia-PacificBui Van Thuan was arrested in August 2021 and accused of “anti-state propaganda” for his Facebook page. In November 2022, he was sentenced to eight years in prison and five years of probation. Authorities charged him under Article 117 of the Vietnamese Penal Code for “making, storing, disseminating or propagandizing…
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Displaced/In ExileBülent Keneş
Journalist, Literary writerTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaBülent Keneş is a Turkish journalist and researcher currently living in exile in Sweden. He is a former editor of Zaman, a newspaper shuttered by Turkish authorities in 2016. On October 9, 2015, he was arrested and charged for “insulting the president” due to his activity on social media. Keneş…
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ConvictedBülent Mumay
Journalist, Online CommentatorTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaOn May 5, 2023, journalist and online commentator Bülent Mumay was sentenced to 20 months in prison for his social media posts criticizing a pro-government construction company’s seizure of the Istanbul Municipality’s subway funds. His appeal was rejected on August 20, 2023. In May 2024, a court ordered the removal…
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ReleasedBülent Şık
Literary writer, ScholarTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaA writer, food engineer, and environmental activist, Şık was indicted in 2018 after he wrote articles discussing the results of a government study of pollution. In 2019, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 months in prison for disclosing secrets of duty, but remained free on appeal. In April 2021,…
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ConvictedBüşra Ersanli
Literary writer, ScholarTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaOn June 5, 2018, Ersanlı was convicted of “making propaganda for a terrorist group” and sentenced to 15 months in prison. The court did not defer her sentence, meaning she was required to serve the term. The charges stem from for her endorsement of a petition, organized by a group…
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ImprisonedByu Har
Singer/SongwriterMyanmarAsia-PacificHip-hop artist Byu Har has used his work to criticize the junta, leading to warnings from authorities. He was arrested in May 2023 after live-streaming a video to social media criticizing authorities for their handling of national power outages. In August 2024, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.…
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.