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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MurderedAbdullah Atefi
Literary writer, Poet, ScholarAfghanistanAsia-PacificAbdullah Atefi, a historian, writer, and poet, was a public figure whose extensive body of work focused on Pashtun culture and literature. Atefi was taken from his home in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province and murdered on August 4, 2021; reports say he was also tortured. Officials have alleged that the Taliban…
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ReleasedAbdullah Benaoum
Journalist, Online CommentatorAlgeriaMiddle East and North AfricaBenaoum has been repeatedly arrested since 2018 for criticizing the government both online and via protests. Arrested in late 2019, Benaoum was sentenced to multiple charges extending his imprisonment. In March 2021, prosecutors denied his appeal and sentenced him to two years in prison. After a 154-day hunger strike, Benaoum…
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ReleasedAbdullah Habib
Creative artist, Literary writerOmanMiddle East and North AfricaIn recent years, writer and filmmaker Abdullah Habib has been subjected to multiple detentions for his criticism of the Omani government and controversial online statements on religion. Most recently, Habib was detained for more than two months during 2018.
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ImprisonedAbdullah Jelan
Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaJelan is an online commentator who went to graduate school in the U.S.; upon his return to Saudi Arabia, he spent months looking for a job. After he was told that his degree was not recognized, he became very critical of the Saudi government on Twitter. He was arrested in…
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ReleasedAbdullah Kılıç
Journalist, Online CommentatorTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaPolice detained Kılıç in July 2016 in the direct aftermath of the failed coup against the government of President Erdogan. Kılıç, a columnist, was accused of being a follower of exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen. He was sentenced to over six years in prison on national security charges in 2018. He…
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ReleasedAbdulmajeed Al-Buluwi
Journalist, Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaA freelance political analyst, Al-Buluwi was arrested on November 16, 2019 as part of a wave of arrests of Saudi writers and bloggers. However, after media coverage and international pressure, he was released a few days later and continues to write.
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DetainedAbdulqadir Jalaleddin
Poet, ScholarChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificAbduqadir Jalaleddin is a renowned poet, translator, scholar of contemporary Uyghur literature, and professor at Xinjiang Normal University. He was arrested from his home in early 2018. Authorities provided no reason for his arrest and have not brought public charges against him. He is believed to be currently held in…
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ImprisonedAbdulrahman Farhana
JournalistSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaFarhana, a columnist who wrote on Palestinian and regional politics and Islamist political movements for Al Jazeera and other outlets, was detained in February 2019. Farhana is being held in Al-Mabahith prison, charged with membership in a terrorist organization. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2021.
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Conditional ReleaseAbdulselam Kilgi
Creative artist, Online Commentator, PoetTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaA scriptwriter and poet, Kilgi was arrested and detained at Izmir Airport on his way back to Türkiye from Germany. Sources say that the arrest was related to a movie he wrote about the oppression of the Kurdish people. He was released on February 11, 2022 after three days of…
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.