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
ReleasedFatima Al-Shawarbi
Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaArrested in November 2020, Fatima Al-Shawarbi is an activist who tweeted from an anonymous account, using a pseudonym. On May 31, 2023, the Specialized Criminal Court convicted Al-Shawarbi for criticizing Saudi Arabia’s treatment of the Howeitat tribe, and sentenced her to 30 years in prison and a 30-year and 6-month…
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ConvictedFatima Naoot
Journalist, Literary writer, Poet, TranslatorEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaLong famous for her politically-charged poetry, Naoot was sentenced to three years in prison in 2016 for defaming Islam in a Facebook post critical of the Eid al-Adha tradition of slaughtering animals. Her appeal was dismissed in March 2016 after she and her lawyer failed to appear in court. In…
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DisappearedFayez Bin Damakh
Journalist, PoetSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaBin Damakh, a Saudi journalist and poet, was reported missing in September 2017, just days before he was set to launch a TV news channel named “The Arabian Peninsula” in Kuwait. The channel aimed to restore Arab confidence in politicized television news and address issues such as poverty, unemployment, and…
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ConvictedFazel Torkaman
Literary writer, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaTorkaman is an author and poet of ten published works including The Girl Who Wiped My Tears. He was summoned to court in October 2022 and then arrested before being immediately released on a 500 million toman bail. He was later charged with “propaganda against the regime” and denied legal…
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ReleasedFazil Say
Creative artist, Literary writerTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaOn May 25, 2012, renowned composer, pianist, and writer Fazil Say was charged with religious defamation in connection with a series of social media posts criticizing religious intolerance and extremism. In 2013, he received a 10-month prison sentence suspended for five years, but was acquitted on appeal in 2016. In…
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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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Conditional ReleaseFereshteh Soori
Activist, Online Commentator, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaPoet and activist Fereshteh Soori was arrested with her husband Ali Jahanian in September 2024 for “propaganda” charges. Soori was released on bail in November. In March 2025, she was sentenced to a year in prison for “propaganda” along with her husband. Both Soori and Jahanian were acquitted of national…
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ImprisonedFernando Almenares Rivera
Singer/SongwriterCubaAmericasFernando Almenares Rivera, a Cuban singer-songwriter known as Nando OBDC, was detained on December 31, 2024, by plainclothes police on allegations including terrorism-related acts and later “propaganda against the constitutional order.” In February 2025, he was reported held in poor conditions at Combinado del Este prison. A six-year sentence was…
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.