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
AcquittedChutima Sidasathina
Editor, Journalist, Online CommentatorThailandAsia-PacificChutima Sidasathina is a columnist and journalist who is known for 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…
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ImprisonedCi Xi
Literary writerChinaAsia-PacificCi Xi is an author of online homoerotic novels and stories on the website ‘’Haitang Literature City.” They were arrested alongside dozens of other authors publishing homoerotic fiction on Haitang and “profiting from the distribution of obscene material.” Unable to return the money Ci Xi had earned from their writings,…
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Under ThreatCiro Gómez Leyva
Journalist, Literary writerMexicoAmericasOn December 16, 2022, writer and journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva survived an assassination attempt when two gunmen on a motorcycle fired at his armored vehicle. Authorities arrested 13 individuals linked to the attack on January 11, 2023, and on October 17, 2023, a criminal gang leader known as “El Patrón”…
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ConvictedClare Rewcastle Brown
Activist, Journalist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorMalaysiaAsia-PacificBritish journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown was investigating the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, which implicated high-level officials and international financial institutions in a multi-billion dollar corruption scheme. In February 2024, she was convicted, in absentia, of criminal defamation and sentenced to two years in prison for her book, “The Sarawak…
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Recorded HarassmentClaudia Piñeiro
Dramatist, Literary writerArgentinaAmericasProlific novelist Piñeiro is an advocate for women’s rights and, specifically, the legalization of abortion in Argentina. She has faced serious harassment for her activism, including threats from anti-abortion activists seeking to intimidate and prevent her from speaking. In November 2020, she received a violent threat via Twitter, and in…
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ConvictedCraig Murray
Literary writer, Online CommentatorUnited KingdomEurope and Central AsiaAn author, blogger, and former diplomat, Murray was charged in April 2020 for blog posts that could have revealed the identities of sexual assault victims in a case involving a Scottish political leader, in contravention of the judge’s orders. He was sentenced to 8 months in prison for contempt of…
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Continued HarassmentCui Haoxin
PoetChinaAsia-PacificCui, a Hui Muslim known by his pen name An Ran, uses poetry and online platforms to protest China’s treatment of Muslim minorities. After enduring harassment throughout 2018, Cui was arrested in January 2020. There is very little public information about the conditions of his detention. In 2022, Cui was…
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ReleasedDalal Abu Amneh
Online Commentator, Singer/SongwriterIsraelMiddle East and North AfricaAbu Amneh’s media team posted her words, “The Only Victor is God,” with a Palestinian flag emoji, following the October 7th attack. While seeking police protection after receiving threats towards her and her family, she was arrested for “threatening public peace.” She was released on bail two days later and…
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ReleasedDaler Sharifov
Journalist, Literary writerTajikistanEurope and Central AsiaOn January 28, 2020, authorities detained Sharifov in a home raid and later charged him with inciting ethnic, racial, and religious hatred. In April 2020, he was sentenced to one year in prison for his dissertation on Muslim theology, which was deemed “hate speech” for including quotes by two leaders…
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.