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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A prominent journalist and advocate for democracy in the post-Soviet era, Bekjanov was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment in 1999 when then-president Karimov blamed explosions in Tashkent on Erk, the opposition party and newspaper of which Bekjanov was a central part. Bekjanov spent nearly 18 years in prison before being…
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In 2018 Dr. Iqbal was stabbed by an anti-secular extremist after receiving multiple death threats. Iqbal recovered and one of his attackers received life in prison while another received 4 years in prison.
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Police detained Türköne, a columnist for the daily Zaman, as part of a purge of suspected Gülenists after the failed July 2016 coup. Türköne was sentenced in 2018 to 10 years in prison on later overturned terrorism charges. After his conditional release in September 2020, trials against him continued. In…
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Faruqui was arrested on January 2, 2021 on allegations that he had made indecent remarks about Hindu deities in a comedy routine he never performed—police officials later admitted the charge was baseless. Though he was set to serve 11 days in jail, Faruqui’s bail was twice denied, and he was…
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A founding member of the World Mongols Poetry Association, Chuluundorj is a well-known blogger, poet, and human rights defender known for defending Inner Mongolian human rights, culture, and history. He was detained on February 18, 2022 for “illegal cooperation activities,” likely due to his vocal criticism of both the Mongolian…
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Columnist Ağırel was arrested and held in isolation in March 2020 over allegedly spreading national security secrets. An investigation was launched for “insults” in his book Sarmal, for which he faces up to 18 years in prison. After 184 days he was released but subject to a travel ban. He…
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Fuad was detained and his house raided as part of a wave of arrests in November 2019. He was released shortly after his detention following international press coverage and pressure calling for his release.
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Qafeisha, a freelance reporter from the West Bank who writes commentary online, has been detained several times in the past decade. In October 2023, Israeli soldiers surrounded Qafeisha’s home in Hebron, urging him and his brother to come out. He was detained, and six days later, he was transported to…
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On November 14, 2019, security forces arrested Al-Ma’ashani and transferred him to a prison where he was denied lawyers and necessary medications. In protest, he began a hunger strike. He was released on bail in April but is awaiting a trial postponed because of COVID-19.
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.