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
ImprisonedLiu Tianyi
Literary writerChinaAsia-PacificGraphic novelist Liu Tianyi was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison in 2018 for producing and selling obscene materials. Her self-published novel Gongzhan (Occupy) depicts a forbidden love affair between a teacher and a student, featuring explicit portrayals of homosexual sex. The novel, which sold over 7,000…
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Displaced/In ExileLiu Xia
Creative artist, PoetChinaAsia-PacificAfter her husband Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 for calling for political reforms in China, poet Lu Xia was held incommunicado under extralegal house arrest. Following a global campaign, in July 2018 she was allowed to leave China for Germany. In July 2024, Kyodo News reported…
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Recorded HarassmentLiu Xianbin
Activist, Literary writerChinaAsia-PacificFor writing articles calling for political reform, Liu was searched and arrested in June 2010 and sentenced to ten years in prison where he was reportedly forced to labor 13 hours daily. After completing a 14-day quarantine at home, Liu was released on June 27, 2020. Friends and fellow activists…
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Custodial/Wrongful DeathLiu Xiaobo
Activist, Literary writer, ScholarChinaAsia-PacificLiu Xiaobo, the renowned Chinese poet, literary critic, pro-democracy activist, and and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was arrested in 2009, charged with “inciting subversion of state power,” and sentenced to 11 years in prison. Liu died from complications of liver cancer, and passed away in 2017 while in state custody,…
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ReleasedLiu Yanli
Activist, Online CommentatorChinaAsia-PacificBlogger Liu, who has written about politics and democracy on WeChat since 2009, was detained in 2018 after a six-month period of residential surveillance. he was detained after social media posts criticizing CCP and PRC government officials. She was sentenced to four years in prison in May 2020 for “picking…
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ReleasedLobsang Lhundup
Literary writer, PoetChina/Tibet Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificLhundup, a poet and Tibetan intellectual, has written works criticizing Chinese rule in Tibet, advocating for freedom of expression. He was arrested in 2019 and detained incommunicado for two years, during which his family had no contact with him. In October 2021, he was sentenced to four years in prison…
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MurderedLokman Slim
Creative artist, Journalist, Literary writer, PublisherLebanonMiddle East and North AfricaSlim was a renowned writer, columnist, and documentary filmmaker. He was the co-owner of the publishing house Dar al-Jadeed. In the days leading up to his assassination, Slim published several anti-government Facebook posts. He was found dead on February 4, 2021 after being shot five times. His killing is believed…
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Conditional ReleaseLolagul Kallykhanova
Journalist, Online CommentatorUzbekistanEurope and Central AsiaLolagul Kallykhanova is a columnist and owner of a news site Makan. She advocates for Karakalpak autonomy and is critical of the Uzbek central government. She disappeared in June 2022 after she published a piece opposing changes to the Uzbek constitution. After months of detention, she was found guilty of…
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ReleasedLong Puthera
Singer/SongwriterCambodiaAsia-PacificAfter the arrest of fellow rapper Kea Sokun, Long Puthera was detained in September 2020 for his song about income inequality. Found guilty of “incitement,” he was sentenced to 5 months in prison but was released in December 2020 after having spent several months in pretrial detention. Puthera expressed remorse…
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.