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
ReleasedDaw Khin Than Wai
PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificPoet Daw Khin Than Wai, also known by her pen name Wa Thone Dray, was arrested on March 27, 2021, while participating in a peaceful protest organized by poets on Pansodan Road in downtown Yangon. The demonstration was part of a broader cultural resistance movement against Myanmar’s February 1 military…
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MurderedDawa Khan Menapal
JournalistAfghanistanAsia-PacificA former journalist and presidential spokesperson, Menapal worked as the head of the Afghan government’s Media and Information Center and sought to form ties with the journalist community. Menapal promoted media pluralism to challenge the Taliban’s propaganda. He was murdered by the militant group on August 6, 2021, one day…
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DetainedDawit Isaak
Dramatist, Journalist, Literary writerEritreaSub-Saharan AfricaCo-owner of the newspaper Setit, Swedish-Eritrean journalist and playwright Isaak has been detained incommunicado since 2001 as part of the government’s sweeping crackdown on print media following the September 11 attacks. Isaak has been reportedly tortured and held in solitary confinement, drawing grave concern for his health. Despite his dual…
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Conditional ReleaseDawood Al-Ali
Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaBlogger and active Twitter commentator Dawood Al-Ali was arrested in December 2020 following several tweets he posted in which he criticized Saudi Arabia’s normalization of relations with Israel. In September 2022, Al-Ali was sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh. In December 2024, however,…
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Displaced/In ExileDenis Kamalyagin
Journalist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorRussiaEurope and Central AsiaIn December 2020, Denis Kamalyagin was labeled a foreign agent by the Russian government. On March 16, 2022, following a raid on his home and office, he fled to Riga. Kamalyagin was fined in June 2022 for not labeling his Telegram posts as “foreign agent material,” and in October 2022…
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Displaced/In ExileDenis Solís González
Activist, Creative artist, Singer/SongwriterCubaAmericasSolís González is a Cuban songwriter and rapper whose musical work critiques repression by the authorities. Solís was forcibly detained in November 2020 after he posted a video on social media criticizing authorities for entering his house without a warrant, and he was given eight months in prison for “contempt.”…
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ReleasedDenise Ho
Activist, Creative artist, Journalist, Online Commentator, Singer/SongwriterChina/Hong KongAsia-PacificA musician-turned-activist, Ho has been repeatedly targeted by Chinese authorities for her outspoken pro-democracy views, expressed through her songs, social media posts, and in columns written for the now-defunct Apple Daily. In December 2021, Ho was briefly detained in a raid on the staff of Stand News, and now faces…
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Displaced/In ExileDeniz Yücel
Journalist, PublisherTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaColumnist Yücel was subjected to pre-trial detention—including solitary confinement and torture—and then indicted in 2018 with producing “terrorism propaganda,” and “inciting the public to hatred and enmity.” Now in Germany, he was charged in absentia in 2021 for publicly insulting Turkish officials. He is currently on trial for “insulting the…
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Recorded HarassmentDeniz Zarakolu
Literary writer, Scholar, TranslatorTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaThe son of prominent human rights activists, Zarakolu was first arrested in 2002 for a speech he gave at his mother’s funeral, which led to charges of “inciting hatred.” In 2011, he was arrested again during a widespread crackdown on pro-Kurdish intellectuals and spent over two years in prison. Although…
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.