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
ReleasedFlora Brovina
Activist, PoetKosovoEurope and Central AsiaKosovar-Albanian Brovina was abducted and held captive in Serbia during the Kosovo War, a political prisoner even as NATO retook the country. She spent 2 years in Serb prisons from 1999-2001 and endured over 200 hours of torture. She is now a prominent political figure.
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Status
Recorded HarassmentForhad Bhuyan
Poet, ScholarIndiaAsia-PacificBhuyan is one of the “Miya” (Bengali-language Muslim) poets charged in July 2019 after the online publication of a poem by Hafiz Ahmed that authorities claimed promoted sectarian enmity in the state of Assam. On July 17, 2019, all ten poets were granted anticipatory bail.
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Status
Displaced/In ExileFrancis Sánchez Rodríguez
Journalist, Literary writer, PoetCubaAmericasA prolific author and founder of a magazine seen as a platform for free expression in Cuba, Sánchez faced government harassment and intimidation for decades in connection with his work. He and his wife, feminist writer Ileana Álvarez, went into exile in Spain in August 2018.
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Status
Continued HarassmentFrancisco Valencia
Creative artist, JournalistEl SalvadorAmericasEditor of El Diario Co Latino, Valencia has published writing critical of the state, for which he has been threatened and stalked. In 1991, the paper’s office was firebombed. In 2014, Valencia was arrested, and quickly released, for slander of a police officer.
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Status
DetainedFreddy Quezada
Online CommentatorNicaraguaAmericasPhilosopher Quezada was fired from his university position in 2018 for criticizing Ortega’s regime. He was arrested in November 2023, hours after publishing a social media post critical of the government. He was transferred to Jorge Navarro Penitentiary System in December, and was charged with “incitement to hatred” in February…
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Status
ReleasedFuad Al-Farhan
Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaOn November 21, 2019, Saudi blogger Fuad Al-Farhan was arrested, his house was raided, and his devices seized. Following a brief detention lasting a matter of days, Al-Farhan was released later that month.
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DetainedFung Wai-kong
JournalistChina/Hong KongAsia-PacificApple Daily editorial writer Fung was arrested at the airport on June 27, 2021, while en route to the U.K. After two days in detention, he was released on bail, requiring him to pay a fine and surrender travel documents. On July 21, 2021, authorities revoked Fung’s bail, re-detained him,…
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Status
Continued HarassmentG. Balakrishnan
Creative artist, JournalistIndiaAsia-PacificThe cartoonist, popularly known as G. Bala, was arrested in 2017 on defamation charges after publishing a political cartoon that depicts leaders nude, covering their genitals with bundles of cash, who failed to prevent the self-immolation of a family facing large debts. In May 2021, the Madras High Court cleared…
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Status
G. Balakrishnan G. Bala
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.