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 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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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Displaced/In ExileBei Dao
Literary writer, PoetChinaAsia-PacificBei Dao has lived and taught in England, Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, France, and the U.S. His work has been translated into over 30 languages, including five poetry collections in English (Unlock, Old Snow, The August Sleepwalker, Forms of Distance, Landscape Over Zero), the story collection Waves, and two essay…
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ImprisonedBenny Tai Yiu-ting
Activist, Literary writer, ScholarChina/Hong KongAsia-PacificTai is a legal scholar and public intellectual who wrote foundational political pieces on democracy. He was convicted on politically-motivated public nuisance charges and served 4 months of his 16-month sentence in April 2019 related to the Occupy Central protests. Tai was re-detained in March 2021 after he was baselessly…
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.