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
ReleasedHatoon Al-Fassi
Activist, Journalist, ScholarSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Fassi is a historian of women’s history, author, columnist, and leading women’s rights activist. On June 27, 2018, Al-Fassi was detained as a part of a crackdown on women’s rights defenders. Authorities provisionally released Al-Fassi on May 2, 2019.
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On TrialHayko Bağdat
Journalist, Online CommentatorTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaBağdat is a Turkish-Armenian columnist who has been targeted in the past for his articles criticizing the government. He now lives in exile in Berlin. In 2019 he was indicted for a 2017 column on Erdoğan and faces a potential sentence in absentia of 10 years in prison for “insulting…
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Recorded ThreatHéctor de Mauleón
Journalist, Literary writerMexicoAmericasJournalist and writer de Mauleón has received constant threats for his investigations of government corruption and criminal groups. In July 2019, he received threats via email, and in January 2020, he received a new threat in a letter delivered to his home.
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DeceasedHelin Bölek
Creative artist, Singer/SongwriterTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaSinger Bölek was a member of activist collective and band Grup Yorum. Since the band’s inception, its critical songs have angered the Turkish government and members have faced serious threats. After her prison release and 288 days into her fast in protest, Bölek died on April 3, 2020.
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On TrialHenry Sawpon
PoetBangladeshAsia-PacificSawpon was arrested for hurting religious sentiments on May 14, 2019 and was released on bail one day later. He is still awaiting trial.
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ImprisonedHesameddin Farzizadeh
Literary writerIranMiddle East and North AfricaFarzizadeh was arrested in 2013 after writing his book From Islam to Islam, which raises questions about Shi’a Islam. He was convicted of apostasy, which carries the death penalty, and was sentenced to seven years in prison and 74 lashes for other content in the book.
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Conditional ReleaseHesham Gaafar
Journalist, Literary writer, ScholarEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaGaafar was detained without warrant in October 2015 for suspected involvement with the banned Muslim Brotherhood. He was held for 41 months in pretrial detention, often under prolonged solitary confinement. He was conditionally released in March 2019.
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Continued HarassmentHiba Abu Taha
Journalist, Online CommentatorJordanMiddle East and North AfricaAbu Taha is a Jordanian-Palestinian freelance investigative journalist and online commentator. In June 2023, the Amman Criminal Court issued her with a three-month prison sentence for defaming an official entity, citing a Facebook post she had written about events in Al-Aqsa Mosque and criticising the ambassador as evidence. She 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.