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
Conditional ReleaseAhmed Hassan Al-Zoubi
Creative artist, JournalistJordanMiddle East and North AfricaA columnist, playwright, and political satirist, Al-Zoubi faced continued harassment for his work. In March 2022, his vehicle was intercepted on the way to the airport, and he was detained, with personal items confiscated, before being released. In March 2023, he was summoned to court after publishing a critical Facebook…
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Displaced/In ExileAhmed Kabir Kishore
Creative artist, Journalist, Online CommentatorBangladeshAsia-PacificCartoonist Kishore was arrested with ten other defendants in May 2020 for criticizing the government’s response to COVID-19 in an online cartoon series “Life in the Time of Corona.” In March 2021, he was released on bail after the death of writer Mushtaq Ahmed, but Kishore sustained physical trauma from…
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ImprisonedAhmed Mansoor
Online Commentator, PoetUnited Arab EmiratesMiddle East and North AfricaMansoor was sentenced to ten years in prison and heavily fined in 2018 after being found guilty of defamation and “spreading false information online.” He has undertaken at least two hunger strikes to protest the solitary confinement and torture he faces in prison. In early 2022, reports surfaced that authorities…
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Displaced/In ExileAhmed Naji
Journalist, Literary writerEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaCharged with ‘violating public modesty’ for sexual content in his novel The Use of Life, Naji served 10 months in prison in 2016. After a prolonged legal battle, his sentence was overturned in May 2018. Once a travel ban was lifted, Naji was able to live and write in exile.…
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ConvictedAhmet Altan
Journalist, Literary writerTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaAltan was detained after the 2016 coup attempt on spurious charges. After his life sentence was reduced to 10.5 years, he was released in 2019, but was promptly rearrested. A 2021 European Court ruling that his rights had been violated led to his release. In March 2022, he was sentenced…
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Displaced/In ExileAhmet Dönmez
Journalist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaAhmet Dönmez is known for his investigations into corruption and criticism of Erdoğan’s AKP. After facing mounting political pressure in Türkiye, Dönmez fled to Sweden where he lived in exile for several years. On March 19, 2022, Dönmez was attacked in Stockholm in front of his child. He was severely…
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On TrialAhmet Nesin
Activist, JournalistTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaNesin, a writer involved in free expression issues in Türkiye, was arrested after standing in solidarity with and serving as a ‘guest editor’ for Özgür Gündem, a pro-Kurdish newspaper that the Turkish government shut down. His acquittal was overturned in November 2020 and he is being retried. In December 2024,…
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DeceasedAhmet Sever
Journalist, Literary writerTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaAhmet Sever was a writer and journalist who was on trial since April 2019 on charges of insulting President Erdoğan in his book My Testimony. An advisor and press chief to former Turkish President Abdullah Gül, Sever’s 2018 book traced conflicts within the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). He…
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Continued HarassmentAhmet Şık
Creative artist, Journalist, Literary writerTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaInvestigative reporter Şik was detained in 2011 for “spreading terrorist propaganda” in a book he wrote on the controversial Gülen movement. He was released a year later, but was arrested again in 2016 for his support of the Kurds. He was finally released in March 2018. The Justice and Development…
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.