Literary Review

In February, I wrote about the detention of the prominent French-Algerian author Boualem Sansal. He was arrested upon arrival at Algiers airport in November 2024, following his earlier media statements about the colonial-era borders between Algeria and Morocco. In those comments, Sansal accused the Algerian government of ‘inventing the Polisario Front to destabilise Morocco’. In […]

Last month, the UK and thirty-six other OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-­operation in Europe) participating states delivered a joint statement about Georgia, expressing alarm at the country’s deteriorating human rights situation and amplifying calls already made by civil society and lobby groups. After the October 2024 elections – widely condemned by international observers as […]

The academic and anti-caste activist Hany Babu has been detained without trial in India for five years in appalling and degrading conditions. Babu is one of sixteen writers, scholars and activists, known as the BK-16, targeted under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), over alleged links to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). They […]

Balochistan is the largest but most sparsely populated province of Pakistan, lying in the southwest of the country. The dominant ethnic group, Balochs, have resided there for centuries. Sharing a fractious border with Iran and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, the region is rich in natural resources, including gas and minerals, but is plagued by political unrest, militancy […]

José Gabriel Barrenechea Chávez, a Cuban writer, journalist and researcher, has been detained by the Cuban authorities since 8 November 2024. After participating in protests over Cuba’s ongoing energy crisis, he was arrested for allegedly leading a demonstration and was charged with ‘public disorder’, an accusation often used to suppress dissent in Cuba. Chávez has […]

Last month, PEN joined more than forty other human rights organisations to condemn the legal threats and harassment directed at Badiucao, an award-winning Chinese-Australian artist and political cartoonist.  Born in Shanghai, Badiucao has held exhibitions in the USA, Europe and Australia. Described as the Chinese Banksy, he remained anonymous for years to avoid persecution, but […]

The Egyptian government, under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, continues to deny citizens their rights to peaceful assembly, association and expression. Scores of journalists, human rights activists and bloggers have been arrested, detained for prolonged periods without trial and charged for making remarks critical of the government. Egypt’s anti-terrorism legislation, the Anti-Protest Law and the Anti-Cybercrime […]

Last month PEN and other human rights organisations renewed their call for the release of Yang Hengjun (whose legal name is Yang Jun), a writer and Australian citizen who is currently in prison in China, where in 2024 he received a suspended death sentence. Recent media reports suggest his health has deteriorated as a result […]

On 16 November the Algerian authorities arrested the prominent French-Algerian author Boualem Sansal at Algiers airport. They kept silent about his whereabouts for over a week, during which time the 75-year-old writer was interrogated and denied access to his family and legal counsel. He was subsequently charged with national security-related offences under article 87bis of […]

On 30 September, the Cambodian investigative journalist Mech Dara was detained by members of the country’s Royal Gendarmerie, a paramilitary unit responsible for domestic security. His car was intercepted on an expressway while he was travelling towards Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. His arrest took place shortly after local officials in the Prey Veng province accused […]

In March, the charges against Montenegrin writer and academic Boban Batrićević (LR, December 2023) were dropped. He faced up to sixty days in prison for publishing an article on the role of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro. Thank you to all readers who sent appeals. Other writers in the region, however, continue to live […]

It’s hard to believe that I first wrote about the Iranian writer, journalist and human rights defender Narges Mohammadi in these pages in June 2012. I featured her case again in March 2016 and September 2020. Mohammadi was first arrested in 1998 for her criticism of the Iranian government and was imprisoned for a year. […]