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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DetainedBahruz Samadov
JournalistAzerbaijanEurope and Central AsiaOn August 21, 2024, Bahruz Samadov, a PhD student at Charles University in Prague and a columnist critical of Azerbaijani authorities and politics, was arrested while visiting his family in Baku. He was held incommunicado for two days until he appeared in court where he was remanded into pretrial detention…
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ImprisonedGangkye Drukpa Kyab
Literary writer, Poet, ScholarChina/Tibet Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificKyab, a poet, teacher, and essayist, has written extensively on the 2008 Tibetan unrest. He was jailed from 2012 to 2016 for his writings. On March 23, 2021, he was arrested in Kardze’s Sertha county under undisclosed charges. In October 2022, it was revealed that he had been sentenced to…
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Displaced/In ExileMasha Gessen
Journalist, Literary writerRussiaEurope and Central AsiaRussian-American writer, journalist, and translator Masha Gessen left Russia in September 2012 due to anti-LGBTQ+ laws. In August 2023, Russia issued an arrest warrant against Gessen after Gessen wrote about war crimes in Bucha. On July 15, 2024, Gessen was sentenced in absentia, to eight years in prison and a…
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Displaced/In ExileSaied Al-Ghamdi
Online Commentator, ScholarUnited KingdomMiddle East and North AfricaWhile exiled in the UK, Saied Al-Ghamdi has faced retaliation for his writing through the imprisonment of his brothers. One of them, Mohammed, was arrested on June 11, 2022 and sentenced to death on July 10, 2024. In August 2024, his sentence was repealed and a verdict of 30 years…
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Continued HarassmentZakir Ali Tyagi
Journalist, Online CommentatorIndiaAsia-PacificTyagi is a Muslim journalist and online commentator with over 75k followers on Facebook. He was first detained in 2017 for 42 days over two Facbook posts. He was arrested again in August 2020 on charges of cow slaughter, that could lead to up to 10 years in prison. While…
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Displaced/In ExileAhmed Gamal Ziada
Journalist, Online CommentatorEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaAhmed Gamal Ziada lives in exile in Belgium following several arrests for his coverage of human rights abuse in Egypt. He was first detained in 2013 and acquitted in 2015. On February 13, 2019, Ziada was arrested again at Cairo Airport on charges of spreading false news before being released…
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Under ThreatCiro Gómez Leyva
Journalist, Literary writerMexicoAmericasOn December 16, 2022, writer and journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva survived an assassination attempt when two gunmen on a motorcycle fired at his armored vehicle. Authorities arrested 13 individuals linked to the attack on January 11, 2023, and on October 17, 2023, a criminal gang leader known as “El Patrón”…
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ImprisonedIhar Melnikov
Literary writer, ScholarBelarusEurope and Central AsiaIhar Melnikov is a historian who was detained in January 2024 for an interview he had given to Euroradio, a dissident media outlet banned in the country, two years prior His trial began in September. He was convicted and sentenced to 4 years in prison for “collaborating with an extremist…
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Displaced/In ExileNewton Ahmed Barry
Journalist, Online CommentatorBurkina FasoSub-Saharan AfricaOn December 29, 2023, Newton Ahmed Barry was convicted, in absentia, for defaming Minister of Defense Brigadier General Kassoum Coulibaly. The ruling sentenced him to a two-month suspended prison term, a fine of 250,000 FCFA, and an additional 500,000 FCFA in damages. He was also ordered to delete the contentious…
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.