Shahidul Alam, the world-famous photojournalist who also founded Bangladesh’s first photo library, was arrested in Dhaka on August 6, 2018 and has been charged with “spreading propaganda and false information

Nawaf al-Rasheed, a dual Qatari-Saudi citizen, is a young lauded poet who lives and studies in Qatar. On May 12, 2018, al-Rasheed was arrested by Kuwaiti authorities and extradited to

Turkish singer Jiyan was arrested and jailed on June 18, 2018 after singing lyrics that used the word “Kurdistan” during a concert in support of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)

Fumba Chama (known widely by his stage name, Pilato) is a Zambian hip-hop artist who is currently facing charges related to his “illegal” participation in a December 2017 protest in

Turkish filmmaker Çayan Demirel and his journalist collaborator Ertuğrul Mavioğlu are currently facing trial and up to five years imprisonment related to charges of “disseminating propaganda in favor of a

Galal El-Behairy is an Egyptian poet and collaborator of well-known musician Ramy Essam, often referred to as the voice of the 2011 Arab Spring movement in Egypt. El-Behairy was detained

Kovan, the popular Tamil protest singer was again taken into custody on April 13, 2018 following the release of a new song. Two days earlier, the head of the local

Yousef Emadi is an Iranian music producer who has been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison since 2016. Emadi was arrested along with musicians and fellow collaborators Mehdi and Hossein Rajabian

Egyptian theatre artists Walid Atef and Ahmed al-Garhy were arrested in March 2018 after staging a play in Cairo that featured actors wearing military uniforms. They remain in military custody,

Renowned Turkish singer and actress Zuhal Olcay was sentenced in March 2018 to 10 months in prison for “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a concert she gave in Istanbul