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
-
Status
ReleasedMustafa Erkan Acar
Journalist, Literary writerTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaMustafa Erkan Acar, an author, was an editor for newspaper Zaman, which was forced to shut down after the 2016 attempted coup. On July 15, 2016, he was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison for alleged “membership in an armed terrorist organization.” Though ordered to be released in…
-
Status
ReleasedMustafa Sheta
Creative artist, Journalist, Online CommentatorIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaSheta, known for his activism, is a columnist and producer at The Freedom Theatre. In early December 2023, the Israeli Army forces broke into and destroyed The Freedom Theatre and its offices during a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. They then stormed Sheta’s house and…
-
Status
AcquittedMustafa Sönmez
Journalist, Literary writer, Online Commentator, ScholarTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaEconomist and columnist Sönmez was briefly arrested in April 2019 and charged with “insulting the president” for tweets he posted calling President Erdoğan “the chief of a thief gang” and “piece of dictator.” He was acquitted of this charge in June 2021. In February 2024, he was acquitted after he…
-
Status
ImprisonedMutellip Imin
Online Commentator, ScholarChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificMutellip Imin, a student of Ilham Tohti, was arrested for his involvement with Tohti’s website Uyghurbiz, which aimed to promote mutual understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. In 2014, he was sentenced in a secret trial to a lengthy prison term. Since 2018, he has been held incommunicado, with his…
-
Status
ReleasedMya Aye
Activist, Poet, Singer/SongwriterMyanmarAsia-PacificMya Aye was surrounded at gunpoint and arrested on February 1, 2021, the first day of the coup. He was charged with “inciting ethnic hatred” using a 2014 email to a Chinese official regarding the peace process in Myanmar. He was sentenced on March 10, 2022 to two years in…
-
Status
MurderedMyint Myint Zin
PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificMyint Myint Zin, also known by her pen name Daw Kyi Lin Aye, is a Burmese poet and teacher. She was tragically killed along other demonstrators on March 3, 2021, during a demonstration in Monywa, Myanmar, when police opened fire on the crowd. In what would be her final wish,…
-
Status
ReleasedMykola Semena
JournalistUkraineEurope and Central AsiaPolice arrested opinion writer and reporter Mykola Semena seven months after he wrote an article in 2015 denouncing Russia’s annexation of Crimea. On conditional release post-arrest, he received a 2-year suspended sentence in 2017 on the charge of separatism. On January 15, 2020, a Crimean court ruled to terminate Semena’s…
-
Status
ReleasedMyo Tazar Maung
Poet, TranslatorMyanmarAsia-PacificPoet, translator, and teacher Myo Tazar Maung was arrested on September 20, 2021, after he posted on Facebook expressing criticism regarding the military government. He was charged with Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, which criminalizes speech that “is likely to cause fear or alarm in the public,” and was…
-
Status
ImprisonedNabijan Habibullah
ScholarChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificAward-winning academic, researcher, and professor at Minzu and Xinjiang Universities, Habibullah is serving a 15-year sentence for unknown charges. His arrest and imprisonment are suspected to be tied to the Chinese crusade on Uyghur intellectuals, as his area of expertise and published works focused on Uyghur culture and language. Habibullah…
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.