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
On TrialMabel Matiz
Singer/SongwriterTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaMabel Matiz is a well-known pop singer and songwriter who is openly LGBT. Matiz faced a criminal complaint in September 2025 for “obscenity.” The charge stemmed from the content of his song “Perperişan.” Matiz was briefly interrogated in the same month. He was released with a travel ban after he…
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ReleasedMagdi Ahmed Hussein Gad
Activist, Journalist, Literary writerEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaHussein, who has authored pieces that comparatively examine Islam and Western values, was given a reduced five-year sentence in 2016 for his “contempt of Islam,” alleged distortion of the Quran, and attacks on national unity through his writing. He served as executive manager of Alshaab Newspaper and general manager of…
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ImprisonedMaha Al-Rafidi Al-Qahtani
Journalist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaIn September 2019, Saudi authorities raided Al-Qahtani’s home and have held her in arbitrary pretrial detention since. As of January 2020 she was reportedly held in solitary confinement and subjected to ill-treatment at Sha’ar Prison. In late 2021, she was reportedly sentenced to six years in prison and a six-year…
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Continued HarassmentMahienour El-Massry
Activist, Online CommentatorEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaMahienour El-Massry is an Egyptian human rights lawyer and activist who was investigated on August 18, 2025 by the Supreme State Security Prosecution over allegations of “spreading false news” related to online posts on Gaza and prison conditions. She was interrogated for several hours and later released on bail set…
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ReleasedMahlet Fantahun
Online CommentatorEthiopiaSub-Saharan AfricaFantahun is one of the Zone 9 Bloggers, a group formed in 2012 to publish political commentary online in the face of tightening restrictions on expression. He was acquitted of all criminal charges following his arrest in 2014, after being detained with fellow bloggers. The group’s arrest sparked international condemnation…
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DetainedMahmoud Fatafta
Journalist, Online Commentator, ScholarIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaMahmoud Fatafta is a Palestinian columnist, political commentator, and professor of politics and media. On May 29, 2024, he was arrested at an Israeli checkpoint near Abu Dis as he was driving with his 10-year-old son, who was left stranded until a relative arrived. At a hearing on June 3,…
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DetainedMahmoud Saad Diab
Journalist, Online CommentatorEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaDiab, a columnist and online commentator, has written opinion pieces on international issues for Al-Ahram, a state-run newspaper. He was arrested at Cairo International Airport on September 6, 2022 while boarding a flight to China. Two months later, he was charged with conspiring against the state with a foreign organization.…
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ReleasedMahmoud Zeid
Creative artist, JournalistEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaShawkan was arrested while taking photos of the Rabaa Massacre in August 2013 and initially faced the death penalty due to a slew of arbitrary charges. He served years in prison and was released in March 2019 under conditional release. He must report every night from 6 p.m. to 6…
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Conditional ReleaseMahsa Asadollanejad
Journalist, Scholar, TranslatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaMahsa Asadollanejad is an Iranian sociologist and translator. She is known for her translations of leftist texts by figures such as Herbert Marcuse and Theodor Adorno. In early November 2025, Asadollanejad was among several individuals arrested in a series of raids targeting leftist intellectuals affiliated with Parviz Sedaghat’s publication, Political…
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.