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
ImprisonedAbdukholil Kholikzoda
Literary writerTajikistanEurope and Central AsiaThe author of the memoir The Events of My Life, Kholikzoda was arrested in August 2023 and copies of his memoir were confiscated by authorities. The Tajik prosecutor accused him of “insulting the Tajik people,” “inciting hatred,” and “instigating instability and threatening national security.” He was sentenced to 6.5 years…
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ImprisonedAbdukodir Rustam
Editor, Literary writerTajikistanEurope and Central AsiaRustam, a writer and editor, was arrested in August 2023 for editing Abdukholik Kholikzoda’s memoir Events of My Life. Copies of the book were confiscated by authorities, while Rustam and Kholikzoda were accused of “inciting hatred.” In February 2024, Rustam was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison.
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Recorded HarassmentAbdul Kalam Azad
Online Commentator, PoetIndiaAsia-PacificAzad 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.
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ConvictedAbdul Rahman Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
Online Commentator, PoetEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Qaradawi, along with 25 other defendants, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2017 for his comments made on social media and in interviews for allegedly “attempting to influence public opinion and judicial rulings.”
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ReleasedAbdulaziz Al-Dukhail
Literary writer, ScholarSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaOn April 25, 2020, Al-Dukhail was arrested and detained without formal charges for a tweet he posted in support of the activist Abdullah Al-Hamid following his death. According to his son, Al-Dukhail was held at Al-Ha’ir Prison, south of Riyadh. On July 9, 2021, Al-Dukhail was released without charge.
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ReleasedAbdulaziz Al-Hais
Journalist, ScholarSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Hais, who had written about the Arab Spring and the roles that intellectuals play in the Middle East, was arrested from his home in November 2019 as part of a wave of arrests. He was released later that month after international pressure calling for his release.
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ImprisonedAbduljalil Al-Singace
Online Commentator, ScholarBahrainMiddle East and North AfricaAwarded the PEN Pinter international writer of courage prize in 2022, Al-Singace is serving a life sentence for his human rights activism. Suffering from post-polio syndrome, his health has severely declined during his detention. He began an extended hunger strike in July 2021 to protest poor conditions, mistreatment, and confiscation…
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DeceasedAbdullah Abu Sharkh
Literary writer, Online CommentatorPalestinian TerritoriesMiddle East and North AfricaWriter Abdullah Mohammed Abu Sharkh was detained by Hamas forces on March 13, 2020 and interrogated about social media posts in which he had criticized the Hamas authorities. Charged with “spreading false news” and “misuse of technology,” he was released on April 9. Abu Sharkh passed away on September 17,…
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On TrialAbdullah Al-Duhailan
Journalist, Literary writerSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Duhailan, a novelist and an advocate for Palestinian rights who also reported on Saudi women driving in defiance of the driving ban, was detained in April 2019 but no official reason was given for his detention. In early 2021, he was conditionally released alongside over a dozen other activists and…
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.