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
ConvictedMurat Ağırel
Journalist, Literary writerTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaColumnist 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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ReleasedMusab Fuad
Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaFuad 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. November 16, Saudi authorities raided his home, confiscated his technological devices, and detained him without charges.…
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ReleasedMusab Khamees Qafeisha
Journalist, Online CommentatorIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaMusab Khamees Qafeisha, a freelance reporter and avid Facebook and Twitter commentator from the West Bank, has been detained several times in the past decade, spanning as far back as 2012. On October 20, 2023, Israeli soldiers surrounded Qafeisha’s home in Hebron, urging him and his brother to come out.…
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ReleasedMusallam Al-Ma’ashani
Literary writerOmanMiddle East and North AfricaOn November 14, 2019, Musallam Al-Ma’ashani, an Omani writer and activist, was arrested by security forces and transferred to prison, where he was denied access to legal representation and necessary medications. He began a hunger strike in protest. Al-Ma’ashani was released on bail in April 2020, but his trial was…
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Custodial/Wrongful DeathMushtaq Ahmed
Journalist, Online CommentatorBangladeshAsia-PacificAhmed was arrested alongside ten people under the Digital Security Act for writing online about the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. After nearly 11 months in detention, Ahmed died in jail on February 25, 2021. A week later, the Home Ministry published an investigative committee finding that Ahmed died…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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ConvictedMustapha Bendjama
Journalist, Online CommentatorAlgeriaMiddle East and North AfricaMustapha Bendjama is an Algerian journalist and online commentator who has faced repeated prosecution linked to his journalistic work and publications. He was released in April 2024 after over a year in detention but continued to face new legal proceedings, including trials and appeals in 2025–2026. In February 2026, he…
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.