Writers At Risk
PEN’s bedrock work is long-term advocacy on behalf of individual writers who are being persecuted because of their work. This page features our highest priority cases. With the help of our members and supporters, we are carrying out campaigns to win their release and ensure they are safe and can write and publish freely.
PEN America examines threats to free expression in our annual Freedom to Write Index, a year-end count of imprisoned writers worldwide. Explore our Writers at Risk Database for updated tracking of cases of writers, journalists, artists, academics, and public intellectuals around the world facing myriad threats for their writing and expression. Read the most recent PEN International case list here.
Take a moment to share information about these writers and take action on their behalf. This is only a small sampling of writers under threat around the world.
Joshua Wong, Alex Chow, and Nathan Law | Status: Imprisoned | China/Hong Kong
Joshua Wong, Alex Chow, and Nathan Law are three prominent student activists who played a leading role in the 2014 Occupy Central Movement in Hong Kong. More
Aslı Erdoğan | Status: On Trial | Turkey
Aslı Erdoğan is a renowned novelist and human rights activist in Turkey who faced terrorism charges for her journalistic work. More
Yury Dmitriev | Status: Imprisoned | Russia
Yury Dmitriev, Russian historian and head of the Karelian branch of the human rights center Memorial, was detained in Petrozavodsk on December 13, 2016, on suspicion of production of… More
Francisco Valencia | Status: Continued Harassment | El Salvador
Editor of El Diario Co Latino, hailed by The New York Times as El Salvador’s “only independent newspaper,” Francisco Valencia continued to publish despite threats to the staff and… More
Stanislav Dmitrievsky | Status: Under Threat | Russia
Stanislav Dmitrievsky, a human rights advocate, is continually under threat for his work promoting human rights in Chechnya. More
Nazlı Ilıcak | Status: Released | Turkey
Nazlı Ilıcak, a 72-year-old veteran journalist, former member of parliament, and avid supporter of democracy, was arrested as part of a crackdown following an attempted coup in July 2016.… More
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