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
ReleasedFazilhoja Arifhojaev
Online CommentatorUzbekistanEurope and Central AsiaArifhojaev, a blogger known for his outspoken criticism of the Uzbek government’s restrictive religious policies, was arrested in July 2021. He was sentenced in January 2022 to four years in prison for his Facebook posts. In April 2022, an additional four-year sentence in a labor camp was added. His arrest…
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Continued HarassmentFedja Stukan
Creative artist, Literary writerSerbiaEurope and Central AsiaActor Fedja Štukan’s autobiography, Blank, was published on January 3, 2021. In it, he discusses his experience as a sniper in special combat, for which Serbian authorities designated him a “national security risk.” On June 23, 2024, Štukan was detained at the Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade while trying to…
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MurderedFernando Villavicencio
Journalist, Literary writerEcuadorAmericasIn April 2017, Villavicencio, a journalist and author, sought asylum in Peru due to threats against him and his family, alongside a pre-trial detention order alleging he leaked documents related to his investigation of state-owned Petroecuador. He was acquitted in February 2018. On August 9, 2023, Villavicencio was assassinated. The…
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Recorded HarassmentFeroz Khan
ScholarIndiaAsia-PacificIn November 2019, members of a right wing Hindu nationalist student group protested and called for Khan, an academic, to stop teaching the Sanskrit language at Bananas Hindu University because he is Muslim. In December 2019, Khan resigned from his post in the Sanskrit department and joined the arts faculty…
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Custodial/Wrongful DeathFessehaye Yohannes
Dramatist, Journalist, Literary writerEritreaSub-Saharan AfricaCo-founder of the newspaper Setit, prominent Eritrean journalist, poet, and playwright, Yohannes was arrested in a sweeping crackdown on print media following the September 11 attacks. He has been detained incommunicado since, drawing grave concern over his health. While some reports suggest he died in detention in 2002, others indicate…
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ReleasedFikret Başkaya
Literary writer, ScholarTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaFikret Başkaya was first arrested in 2015 for “insulting the president.” He was released 18 days later. He was then briefly arrested in April 2017, as part of an investigation into the attempted 2016 coup on suspicion of being involved in FETÖ, and in November 2017 for a 2016 article…
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MurderedFiliberto Álvarez Landeros
Journalist, PoetMexicoAmericasPoet and journalist Álvarez Landeros was shot dead in Tlaquiltenango, Mexico in May 2017, after hosting a show at a local radio station. Despite his profession, the Morelos State Attorney General ruled out his journalism as a motive for the murder. A man was arrested in connection with the crime,…
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Under ThreatFilipp Dzyadko
Journalist, Literary writerRussiaEurope and Central AsiaAuthor, journalist, and Russian opposition figure Dzyadko had to leave Russia shortly after Russian forces invaded Ukraine. After a year living in Georgia, he was denied re-entry and detained overnight on February 20, 2023. Dzyadko has attempted to enter Georgia again by land and was denied. The author of the…
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ReleasedFirew Bekele
ScholarEthiopiaSub-Saharan AfricaUniversity lecturer Bekele was arrested on August 17, 2019 and charged under Ethiopia’s draconian Anti-Terrorism Proclamation in connection with a book he had published criticizing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. He was released on November 19, 2019. Bekele corresponds with PEN America about how to receive emergency funds for writers 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.