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.
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Status
ImprisonedChen Yu
PublisherChinaAsia-PacificChen owns an online book retailer that sells foreign-published Christian books to readers living in China. In September 2019, he was detained in Linhai city on suspicion of “illegal business activities” for selling unapproved religious publications. On September 27, 2020, Chen was sentenced to seven years in prison, received a…
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Chen Yu Zhang Xiaomai
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ImprisonedChen Yunfei
Activist, Creative artist, Online CommentatorChinaAsia-PacificOn March 25, 2021, Chengdu authorities detained Chen on “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” after he wrote an online article about schools in Sichuan. In December 2021, he was convicted of false “child molestation” charges and sentenced to four years in prison.
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DetainedChen Zhaozhi
Online Commentator, ScholarChinaAsia-PacificChen Zhaozhi, a scholar and online commentator, was detained in March 2020 for his online writings criticizing the government during COVID-19. His prolonged detention has placed Chen, who already suffers from Alzheimer’s and hypertension, at severe risk due to health concerns.
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Recorded HarassmentChido Onumah
Journalist, Literary writerNigeriaSub-Saharan AfricaAuthor, human rights activist, and journalist Onumah was briefly arrested and detained by the Nigerian Department of State Security (DSS) in September 2019 without explanation of the offense. He was released without charge five hours after. The DSS denied arresting him.
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ReleasedChimengül Awut
Editor, PoetChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificAwut, an award-winning poet and editor at Kashgar Publishing House, was reportedly arrested in July 2018. She was sent without a trial to a “re-education camp” after her involvement in editing a novel by another Uyghur writer. She was released on December 5, 2020.
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ImprisonedChow Hang-tung
Activist, Online CommentatorChina/Hong KongAsia-PacificChow, an online commentator and labor rights activist, was arrested after writing an article about the Tiananmen Square Massacre vigil in June 2021. She was sentenced to 15 months in prison in June 2023. She is, however, appealing this decision and her trial is scheduled for November 22, 2023.
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ConvictedChristopher Acosta Alfaro
Journalist, Literary writerPeruAmericasAn investigative journalist and author of the book Plata como cancha, Acosta was sued for defamation by presidential candidate Cézar Acuña after his book was published. In his book he exposed alleged corruption, vote-buying, and plagiarism. A criminal court foud Acosta guilty and sentenced him to 2 years suspended prison…
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Continued HarassmentChutima Sidasathina
Editor, Journalist, Online CommentatorThailandAsia-PacificSidasathina is a columnist and journalist reporting on corruption and human trafficking in Thailand. She was tried and acquitted in 2015 for her reporting on the latter. In 2021, she published an exposé on a corrupt financial scheme, and was charged with defamation in December 2022 for this coverage. Her…
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.