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
ImprisonedIlham Tohti
Online Commentator, ScholarChinaAsia-PacificTohti, an influential Uyghur writer and economist, co-founded the website Uyghurbiz. He was arrested at Beijing airport in January 2014, and found guilty of separatism and sentenced to life imprisonment in September 2014. Tohti had endured years of repeated instances of harassment and detentions for his peaceful advocacy for the…
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Releasedİlhan Sami Çomak
PoetTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaKurdish poet Çomak was arrested in 1994 and sentenced to life in prison for membership in the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party. While in prison, he has published eight books of poetry, gaining international recognition as one of Türkiye’s longest-serving political prisoners. After decades in prison, he was released in November…
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ReleasedImad Abu Awad
Journalist, Online CommentatorIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaAs director of the Al-Quds Center for Palestinian and Israeli Studies, Abu Awad shared political analysis and opinion on multiple Facebook accounts, as well as providing commentary to international news outlets. In October 2023, Israeli forces searched his office in the West Bank, confiscated his phone and laptop, and arrested…
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ReleasedImad Al-Ifranji
JournalistIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaPalestinian columnist Imad al-Ifranji was found in Israeli custody after he went missing during Israel’s attack on Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital on March 19, 2024. The next day, Israeli forces raided the family home and occupied the house for several hours, interrogating his children. In November 2024, it was reported that…
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ReleasedImad Barghouthi
Online Commentator, ScholarIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaPalestinian astrophysicist and professor Barghouthi was arrested on June 16, 2020, without explanation. On August 2, he was charged with “incitement and support for a hostile organization.” Bargouthi was released on June 1, 2021, but was re-arrested on October 23, 2023. On November 1, he was sentenced to six months…
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ReleasedIman Behpasand
Journalist, Online CommentatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaColumnist, essayist, and online political commentator Iman Behpasand was arrested on September 22, 2022 after a raid on his home in Tehran in the middle of the night. During the raid, Iranian security officers confiscated his mobile phone and laptop, and later transferred Behpasand to Evin Prison in Tehran. Although…
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ReleasedIminjan Seydin
Literary writer, Publisher, ScholarChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificUyghur historian and publisher Seydin disappeared in 2017 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for “inciting extremism” in late 2019, likely for his involvement in publishing an Arabic grammar book. In May 2020, via a video released by state-affiliated China Daily, Seydin stated he was not detained; however,…
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DeceasedImtiaz Ahmed
Literary writer, ScholarBangladeshAsia-PacificAhmed was a professor at the University of Dhaka and author of Historicising 1971 Genocide: State versus Person. After an article by former Bangladesh Supreme Court Justice Chowdhury was released accusing him of falsification of history and defamation of the country’s founder president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Ahmed was fired and…
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Displaced/In Exileİnan Altın
Creative artist, Singer/SongwriterTürkiyeEurope and Central Asiaİnan Altın is a member of the 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. In February 2018, the Ministry of Interior placed Altın, as well as Selma Altın, on their wanted terrorists list,…
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.