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PEN America and PEN Sydney today joined more than 170 writers and scholars worldwide–including Azar Nafisi, Shahriar Madanipour, Hisham Matar, Orhan Pamuk, Moniroo Ravanipour, Peter Sloterdjik, Bela Tarr, and Jia Zhangke–calling for the release of Ali Asadollahi, a noted poet and member of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA), as well as other unjustly detained writers in Iran.

With anti-government protests erupting across Iran and writers and dissident voices being detained, PEN America today called for the release of Iranian writer Reza Khandan Mahabadi on the second anniversary of his wrongful imprisonment. PEN America also urged the unconditional release of every writer and artist either imprisoned long-term or detained recently. Mahabadi, a member of the Iranian Writers’ Association and winner of the 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write award, was sent to prison exactly two years ago, along with the poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin, who died this past January from...

A group of Iranian political prisoners have reportedly been on hunger strike to protest the death of prominent poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin, who died after contracting COVID-19 at the notorious Evin prison earlier this month. Rights groups have said Abtin was denied proper medical care.

The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (RWCHR) and PEN America filed a complaint with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to hold Iran accountable for a pattern of targeting and imprisoning members of the Iranian Writers’ Association (IWA), the leading free expression advocacy group representing writers in Iran.

Meanwhile, a jailed poet's death sparks anger and analysts warn of Saudi role in Vienna nuclear talks