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.
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ImprisonedMin Liangchen
Journalist, Literary writer, PoetChinaAsia-PacificMin Liangchen is a Chinese journalist, commentator, and magazine and newspaper editor whose work addresses culture, history, and politics. Alongside his work as an editor for opinion sections, including for Zhengzhou Evening News until his retirement in 2013, he wrote essays and poetry. Following his retirement, he continued to write…
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DetainedMirap Muhammad
Activist, Journalist, Online CommentatorChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificUyghur blogger Mirap Muhammad was arrested on April 2, 2019, after a court order accused him of illegally providing intelligence abroad. His indictement, which circulated on social media, reveals that he was charged for using a VPN to log in to Twitter and post about the mass detention of Uyghurs…
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Displaced/In ExileMiron Fyodorov
Creative artist, Singer/SongwriterRussiaEurope and Central AsiaA rapper and songwriter, Fyodorov wrote a song that was found to be “extremist” by a Moscow Court. In February 2022, he left Russia for Türkiye. He was fined 45,000 rubles on December 12, 2022 for discrediting the army. He was fined again 70,000 rubles on January 11, 2023 for…
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ReleasedMirvat Al-Azzeh
Journalist, Online CommentatorIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaIn November 2023, freelance journalist and online writer Mirvat Al-Azzeh was arrested in East Jerusalem for incitement and identifying with a terrorist organization for four Facebook posts she published following the October 7 attack. Four days later, NBC News announced that Al-Azzeh was no longer on contract with them. She…
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ImprisonedMohamed Al-Amin Belgaith
Literary writer, ScholarAlgeriaMiddle East and North AfricaMohamed Al-Amin Belgaith, a historian and writer, was arrested in May 2025 after a televised interview sparked backlash over his remarks on Amazigh identity. He was charged with undermining national unity, inciting hatred, and attacking national symbols, and held in pretrial detention. In July 2025, he was sentenced to five…
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ReleasedMohamed Al-Atrash
Journalist, Online CommentatorIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Atrash, a host on Radio Alam and co-founder of Space Media, which covers Palestinian issues, also writes commentary online. He was arrested at his home in the West Bank on November 8. At a hearing a few weeks later, Israeli prosecutors charged Al-Atrash with incitement based on posts from his…
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Displaced/In ExileMohamed Cheikh ould Mohamed Mkhaïtir
Online CommentatorMauritaniaSub-Saharan AfricaIn 2014, Mohamed Cheikh ould Mohamed Mkhaïtr was sentenced to death for writing an article, in which he argued that Muaritania’s caste system was not justified by the teachings of the prophet Mohammed. He was unexpectedly released on July 29, 2019, seemingly at the request of then-president Mohamed Ould Abdel…
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ReleasedMohamed Mostafa Moussa
JournalistEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaMoussa, a columnist for multiple outlets who has criticized President el-Sisi in his work, was arrested at his home in Alexandria and taken to an undisclosed location on November 7, 2022. He was charged with “publishing false news and statements, misusing social media, and participating in a terrorist group.” He…
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ImprisonedMohamed Tadjadit
Activist, Online Commentator, PoetAlgeriaMiddle East and North AfricaKnown for his pro-democracy poetry, Tadjadit—often referred to as the “poet of the Hirak”—was first arrested in August 2020 for participating in a peaceful protest. He was released in January 2021 but was re-arrested shortly afterward and detained for over a year. Following a series of brief detentions throughout 2022…
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.