PEN Perth
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14/06/2026
Pham Doan Trang is a Vietnamese author, journalist and pro-democracy activist who remains imprisoned for peacefully exercising her right to freedom of expression. In December 2021, she was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges related to “anti-state propaganda”, and her appeal was later rejected.
A respected writer and advocate for human rights, Pham Doan Trang has authored books on democracy, civil society and non-violent activism. For years she faced harassment, surveillance and detention because of her work promoting freedom of information and civic participation in Vietnam.
PEN International considers her imprisonment a violation of her right to free expression and continues to call for her immediate and unconditional release. The organisation has also raised concerns about her health and access to legal representation and medical care while in detention.
PEN Perth stands in solidarity with Pham Doan Trang and with writers everywhere who are persecuted, imprisoned or silenced for their words. We call for her immediate release.
Freedom to write is a fundamental human right.
FreedomOfExpression HumanRights Vietnam
Why Jimmy Lai’s plight and fight is a warning bell for us all, everywhere
Listen on ABC National Big Ideas
From rags ... to riches ... to a prison cell. He could have stayed wealthy and silent, but chose not to. What happens when power decides that a free press is a threat?
Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai launched newspapers that dared to challenge Beijing, advocate for democracy, and report the truth when the truth was dangerous.
Now Jimmy Lai faces a life sentence under China’s crackdown on press freedom.
But his story sends a warning to us all, everywhere.
This event, The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, and China’s Most Feared Critic was presented by the CUNY Graduate Center (City University of New York)
Speakers
Mark Clifford
President of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation
Author of The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire…and China’s Most Feared Critic
Evan Osnos (host)
Staff writer at The New Yorker
PEN International has launched Writers Under Siege: Defying Silence – PEN International Case List 2026.
From censorship and arbitrary detention to online harassment, disinformation and war, this year’s Case List reveals how space for expression, culture and dissent is shrinking as governments intensify efforts to silence critical expression and target writers for their work.
In 2025 alone, PEN International documented 140 cases worldwide: 32 writers imprisoned, 26 harassed, 23 facing judicial harassment and 12 subjected to enforced disappearance.
Go to pen-international.org/case-list-2026 to download the full Case List.
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