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
-
Status
Displaced/In ExileDmitry Glukhovsky
Dramatist, Journalist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorRussiaEurope and Central AsiaOn two separate occasions in May and June 2022, exiled writer Dmitry Glukhovsky was arrested in absentia for “discrediting the army” in anti-war social media posts he made. After being placed on the foreign agent list in October 2022, Glukhovsky was arrested in absentia for “spreading false information about the…
-
Status
Displaced/In ExileDmitry Kolezev
Journalist, Online CommentatorRussiaEurope and Central AsiaIn 2022, exiled journalist Dmitry Kolezev was designated a “foreign agent,” while living in Lithuania. In April 2024, a criminal case was opened against him, primarily for an Instagram post about the actions of Russian troops in Bucha, Ukraine. On June 5, 2024, A Moscow Court placed Kolezev under arrest…
-
Status
Recorded HarassmentDmitry Strotsev
Online Commentator, Poet, PublisherBelarusEurope and Central AsiaDmitry Strotsev publishes poetry as a preserver of the “Minsk school of poetry” and has written poetry about the August 2020 Belarusian election and subsequent violence against protesters. On October 21, 2020, he was abducted with a bag over his head, detained, and was brought to interrogation at the KGB.…
-
Status
Displaced/In ExileDo Nguyen Mai Khoi
Creative artistVietnamAsia-PacificOnce hailed as the ‘Lady Gaga of Vietnam,’ Mai Khoi transformed her career from pop star to protest singer after speaking out against Vietnamese censorship in her music. As she has reinvented herself as a political activist, she has been consistently harassed by authorities. In 2020, she went into self-imposed…
-
Status
Displaced/In ExileDoan Viet Hoat
JournalistVietnamAsia-PacificDoan founded the Freedom Forum, a free speech discussion group, after his release from a reeducation camp where he spent 12 years. This led to his renewed arrest in 1990 and a 15-year prison sentence. He served eight years before being released under an amnesty in 1998. Now living in…
-
Status
AcquittedDoddipalya Narasimha Murthy
Activist, Journalist, Literary writerIndiaAsia-PacificA journalist, activist, and writer. Contributed to the Gauri Lankesh Patrike and is the secretary of the Gauri Media Trust, which “called for the police to conduct a fair and thorough investigation and raised questions over whether his arrest was a case of mistaken identity.” Arrest was condemned by over…
-
Status
DeceasedDoğan Akhanli
ActivistTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaDoğan Akhanli was a writer, essayist, playwright and novelist. His work prominently featurned the study of genocide as a theme. Akhanli was arrested and imprisoned several times for his work on the Armenian Genocide. His family were targeted by the Turkish government and he underwent torture. In 1991, he fled…
-
Status
ReleasedDolma Kyab
Literary writer, ScholarChina/Tibet Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificIn 2005, Dolma Kyab was arrested while teaching in connection with his unpublished manuscript The Restless Himalayas. He was tried secretly and sentenced to ten years in prison for endangering state security. He was released in October 2015. His writings addressed topics such as democracy, sovereignty, colonialism, and Chinese military…
-
Status
MurderedDom Phillips
Journalist, Literary writerBrazilAmericasA columnist and literary writer, Phillips was shot and killed on June 5, 2022, in the remote Javari Valley in Brazil’s Amazonas region. At the time, he was conducting research for his upcoming book How to Save the Amazon, focusing on illegal activities and the protection of Indigenous groups in…
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.