Writers At Risk
PEN’s bedrock work is long-term advocacy on behalf of individual writers who are being persecuted because of their work. This page features our highest priority cases. With the help of our members and supporters, we are carrying out campaigns to win their release and ensure they are safe and can write and publish freely.
Take a moment to share information about these writers and take action on their behalf. This is only a small sampling of writers under threat around the world.
Necmiye Alpay | Status: Released | Turkey
Necmiye Alpay is a Turkish translator, editor, journalist and staunch defender of free expression More
Pavel Sheremet | Status: Murdered | Ukraine
Pavel Sheremet, a Belarusian-born Russian journalist who worked in Belarus and Ukraine, died in a car explosion in Kyiv on July 20, 2016. The Ukraine Prosecutor’s Office said the… More
Stella Nyanzi | Status: On Trial | Uganda
Jump to: Case Background Case Updates In Their Words Dr. Stella Nyanzi, a Ugandan medical anthropologist, activist, and writer, was convicted after writing and posting a poem online, in which she criticized Ugandan… More
Stanislav Aseyev | Status: Released | Ukraine
Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseyev, who writes under the pen name Vasin, was captured by Russian-supported rebels on June 2, 2017. Aseyev was based in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk and… More
Oleh Halaziuk | Status: Released | Ukraine
Oleh Halaziuk, a columnist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), has been detained since August 2017 by Russian-supported rebels in the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine. More
Joshua Wong, Alex Chow, and Nathan Law | Status: Continued Harassment | China/Hong Kong
Joshua Wong, Alex Chow, and Nathan Law are three prominent student activists who played a leading role in the 2014 Occupy Central Movement in Hong Kong. More
Chen Yunfei | Status: Conditional Release | China
Chen Yunfei is a performance artist who works at the intersection of human rights activism and art. His art is overtly political, promoting the Chinese pro-democracy movement. More
Alaa Abd El Fattah | Status: Detained | Egypt
Alaa Abd El Fattah is an Egyptian activist, software developer, and blogger. After being sentenced to a month of jail in absentia, he received a five years sentence in… More
Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Ahmet Nesin, and Erol Önderoğlu | Status: On Trial | Turkey
Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Ahmet Nesin, and Erol Önderoğlu are human rights defenders and journalists. On June 20, 2016, they were arrested and questioned about their involvement in a freedom… More
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PEN America On 
Writers, artists, and students debate the upcoming removal of a Depression-era mural at the University of Kentucky. Some want to see the mural removed, while others say hiding it is artistic censorship and obscuring the state’s history of slavery. https://nyti.ms/38xDmYM
Google, Facebook, and Twitter said they were reviewing China’s punitive new national security law for the city, a rare public questioning of Chinese policy by major U.S. tech companies. They have yet to decide to cooperate with parts of the law. https://nyti.ms/2VRaXrq