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.
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Poet Al-Ajami was convicted in November 2012 for “inciting the overthrow of the ruling regime” and “criticizing the Emir” in two of his poems. He was sentenced to life in prison, later reduced to 15 years. In 2016, he received a royal pardon and was released.
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Al-Roken, a lawyer and human rights advocate who has represented numerous other activists, was tried along with 93 other defendants for anti-state activity and sentenced to ten years in prison in 2013 in an unfair trial that failed to meet international standards. Al-Rukn has not been released despite serving his…
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One of several writers arrested in April 2019, Al-Sadiq previously wrote about sectarianism, conflict, and economic inequality in the region. He was also active in the movement to end the ban on women driving. In early 2021, was conditionally released alongside over a dozen other activists and writers between February…
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Former director of daily newspaper Le Matin, Benchicou was arrested in 2003 on pretense of a currency violation. Though released in 2006, he was forced to shutter his newspaper and faced censorship of his novel writing years following his release. In 2011, he published another book in France where currently…
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El-Kurd is an award-winning poet, journalist, and social media activist from East Jerusalem. Currently the Palestine correspondent for The Nation, El-Kurd’s debut poetry collection Rifqa focuses on the Palestinian struggle for freedom and his grandmother’s exile during the Nakba. Following its publication in October 2021, El-Kurd was the subject of…
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In December 2019, the son of former president General Zia ul Haq filed a defamation notice against Hanif, citing Hanif’s satirical novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes. The book’s publishing house was raided in January 2020 for selling the novel translated into Urdu.
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A blogger and online activist, Al-Ajmi has been the victim of repeated attacks since October 2022. The first occurred in Kuwait before he was forced out of the country; he was then attacked in Egypt in June 2023 before traveling to Turkey to apply for asylum. Upon his arrival, he…
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Sabaaneh, a Palestinian cartoonist, has been repeatedly harassed by both Palestinian (PA) and Israeli authorities. He has been detained multiple times by Israeli border forces at Allenby Bridge without any explanation. In January 2023, as instigated by the PA, he was dismissed from his job at Al-Hayat Al-Jadida newspaper for…
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Al-Bishr, a professor and commentator on politics and religion, was arrested in October 2017. Human rights monitors report that he was arrested for commenting on excessive censorship in media. On January 8, 2021, he was sentenced without charge to four years in prison.
Writers at Risk Database Key:
STATUS box that is red: Active case
STATUS box that is black: Inactive case
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.
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.