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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Under ThreatJuan Martinez D’Aubuisson
Journalist, Literary writerEl SalvadorAmericasColumnist Martinez D’Aubuisson is the author of The Hollywood Kid: The Violent Life and Violent Death of an MS-13 Hitman. He has been researching gang violence in Latin America extensively since 2008. After an interview he gave on gang violence in El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele posted critical comments of…
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Recorded HarassmentJuan Pablo Barrientos
Journalist, Literary writerColombiaAmericasIn October 2019, after publishing Let the Little Children Come to Me, Barrientos was accused of defamation by members of the Catholic Church. During two trials, sales of his book were suspended, and he was ordered to reveal his sources. The case was resolved in his favor, and all lawsuits…
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Conditional ReleaseJulian Assange
PublisherUnited KingdomEurope and Central AsiaAssange, publisher of WikiLeaks, was imprisoned in the U.K. in 2019 for violating bail terms. He faced imminent extradition to the U.S. where he has been indicted on multiple charges, including on 17 counts under the Espionage Act, with worrying implications for press freedom. After a lengthy appeal of his…
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Recorded HarassmentJulián Fernando Martinez Vallejo
Journalist, Literary writerColombiaAmericasMartinez Vallejo is an award-winning investigative journalist and author of ChuzaDAS (Illegal Wiretapping). The book is focused on the illegal wiretapping of journalists, magistrates, and opponents during the presidency of Alvaro Uribe. On February 22, 2022, Vallejo was attacked by armed individuals. He was granted temporary asylum status in Argentina…
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Recorded HarassmentJulián Fuks
Journalist, Literary writerBrazilAmericasAuthor of Resistance, Fuks has faced harassment for a 2022 column he wrote about the President of Brazil at the time, Jair Bolsonaro. His column titled “Wanted, a terrorist capable of a subtle act that transforms history” was a figurative call for a transformative figure to address Brazil’s historical challenges.…
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Recorded ThreatJulio César González
Creative artist, Online CommentatorColombiaAmericasGonzález is a cartoonist whose work satirizes Colombian politicians. In April 2018, he announced that due to death threats he received from supporters of former president Alvaro Uribe, who he depicted in his work, he would no longer publish his work on social media. He was later targeted by hacking…
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ImprisonedJunaid Hafeez
Poet, ScholarPakistanAsia-PacificHafeez, a liberal academic, was arrested for blasphemy in 2013 and has been in solitary confinement since 2014. An Islamist group lodged the accusation against him to prevent his promotion to a permanent faculty position. He was sentenced to death in 2019. On March 19, 2025, the Lahore High Court…
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DetainedJunaidullo Khodyorov
Activist, Journalist, Online CommentatorRussiaEurope and Central AsiaIn August 2018, Russia-based Tajik blogger Khodyorov was sentenced to 5 years in prison in Tajikistan for “supporting terrorism” in relation to his writing about a trip to the country. He was released in October 2019. He returned to Russia but was rearrested there in June 2023 at Tajik authorities’…
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Displaced/In ExileJung Chang
Literary writerChina/MacauAsia-PacificJung Chang and he husband co-wrote a critical biography of Mao. The best-selling family autobography was later banned in China. In 2018, Jung Chang was invited to a literary festival in Macau. Her invitation was revoked in March 2018 after authorities said that her appearance there would be “untimely.” As…
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.