Aurélia Dondo, Head of Europe and Central Asia Region

PEN International continued to urge the Russian Federation to end its war of aggression against Ukraine. The Belarusian authorities unleashed a new wave of repression by releasing scores of writers into exile. The right to peaceful protest remained widely restricted, while the defence of artistic freedom gained momentum amid sustained pressure across the region. PEN International celebrated improvements for several persecuted writers.   

Unwavering Ukrainian resolve 

The Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine continued to bring suffering to millions of people, with Russian forces committing war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law. 2025 was the deadliest year for civilians since the 2022 full-scale invasion. According to PEN Ukraine and partners, at least 255 cultural figures have been killed by Russian forces as of December 2025, including writers, translators, artists, musicians, photographers, and historians who played a key role in enriching Ukraine’s culture and identity. PEN Ukraine member Victoria Amelina’s War and Justice Diary: Looking at Women Looking at War was published posthumously in February 2025 to critical acclaim (see Ukraine section below).  

Since 24 February 2022, at least 20 journalists and media workers have been killed by Russian forces in Ukraine while carrying out their professional duties. Ukrainian journalists Olena Hramova, Yevhen Karmazin, Tetyana Kulyk, and French photojournalist Antoni Lallican were killed in Russian drone strikes in 2025. PEN International urged the Russian authorities to investigate cases of torture and deaths in custody of all Ukrainians, including journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who reportedly died in Russian custody on 19 September 2024. In April 2025, the Viktoriia Project revealed that Roshchyna had been repeatedly subjected to torture. A war crimes investigation was ongoing at the end of the year.  

At least 26 Ukrainian journalists remained in Russian captivity at the end of the year, including Iryna Danylovych and Server Mustafayev, highlighted in PEN International’s 2022 and 2023 Day of the Imprisoned Writer campaigns. On 9 July 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held the Russian Federation responsible for widespread and flagrant violations of human rights in Ukraine.

A new tool of repression: forced exile   

The Belarusian authorities released scores of writers and cultural figures into exile, mirroring repressive techniques used in previous years by other repressive governments. On 13 December 2025, 123 individuals were released from prison in Belarus following negotiations with the United States aimed at lifting economic sanctions, with 114 originally taken to Ukraine and nine to Lithuania. Among those released were writers Ales Bialiatski, Aliaksandr Fiaduta and Maksim Znak. Fifty-two other prisoners – including philosopher Uladzimir Mackievič – had been similarly released on 11 September 2025  and sent into exile in Lithuania (see Belarus section below). Many had their passports confiscated. 

PEN International and PEN Belarus welcomed the writers’ long-awaited release yet expressed deep concern at the fact that they were forced into exile, with several expressing their wish to remain in Belarus. The organisations called on the relevant governments to ensure that these individuals have the possibility to travel to the country of their choice and are provided with clear and accessible information as well as comprehensive assistance – including access to documentation, support with legalisation processes, physical and psychological health care, and effective mechanisms to protect them from further persecution.  

Mounting acts of transnational repression 

On 13 November 2025, the European Parliament adopted its first resolution on the transnational repression of human rights defenders. The resolution was based on a June 2025 report that held ten coun­tries around the world – including the Russian Federation, Belarus and Türkiye – responsible for 80% of documented cases. 

In absentia proceedings against exiled writers and journalists, often coupled with extradition threats including abuse of the Interpol ‘red notice’ system and harassment of family members, are part of a growing arsenal in the Russian Federation’s transnational repression. In April 2025, a new law expanded the scope of trials in absentia to a variety of charges, including extremism, fake news and ‘foreign agent’ laws. On 14 July 2025, a military court in Moscow convicted Russian-Georgian writer Boris Akunin (real name Grigory Chkhartishvili)  of ‘aiding and justifying terrorism’ and violating ‘foreign agents’ laws and sentenced him to 14 years in prison. United Kingdom resident Akunin has been a vocal opponent of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In October 2025, the Russian authorities opened an investigation against Georgia-based Larisa Tuptsokova – an award-winning writer from the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation – on bogus ‘extremism’ grounds, on account of her activities in support of Circassian language and culture (see Russian Federation section below). 

The authorities of Türkiye continued to target independent writers and journalists at home and abroad. PEN Sweden member Joakim Medin was detained on 27 March 2025 at Istanbul airport after travelling to cover nationwide protests. He received a suspended prison sentence for ‘insulting’ President Erdoğan on 30 April 2025, but remained in pre-trial detention on separate terrorism grounds, before being released and deported to Sweden on 16 May 2025. He was banned from returning to the country for five years. His trial in the ‘terror’ case began in absentia on 25 September 2025 in Istanbul. If convicted, Medin would face years in prison and could be subject to an international arrest warrant. 

An arsenal of repressive laws 

At the end of 2025, 148 journalists were recorded in detention, held on spurious grounds: Russian Federation (58, including journalists detained by the Russian authorities in the occupied territories of Ukraine), Azerbaijan (36), Belarus (27), Türkiye (24), Armenia (2) and Georgia (1).  

In Georgia, the authorities adopted an array of repressive laws that crushed fundamental freedoms at an alarming speed. The May 2025 Foreign Agents Registration Act introduced criminal penalties for individuals or entities that refuse to register as ‘foreign agents’, with fines of up to 10,000 GEL (approximately 3,100 EUR) and/or to a maximum five-year prison sentence. Hastily introduced amendments to the Organic Law on Common Courts came into force on 30 June 2025, prohibiting photo, video, and audio recording or broadcasting in courthouses, courtrooms, and surrounding areas – except when authorised and conducted by the court. National organisations warned that the amendments would severely restrict media work and effectively eliminate public oversight of the judiciary. 

Amid growing hostility to LGBTQ+ people, in October 2025 in Türkiye, a draft law that would pave the way to bring criminal charges against LGBTQ+ people was leaked to the media. If enacted, the regulation would restrict LGBTQ+ people of their right to access and share information while journalists reporting on LGBTQ+ issues would face criminal prosecution on the grounds of ‘promotion’. Earlier, journalists covering the LGBTQ+ Pride March  in June 2025 in Istanbul were detained and prosecuted. While no law had been officially proposed by the end of the year, concerns that the government would do so remained.  

On 11 February 2025, in Novaya Gazeta and Others v. Russia, the ECtHR found that the Russian authorities’ prosecution and shutdown of media for ‘discrediting’ the Russian military or spreading ‘fake news’, combined with retrospective application of the law and severe sanctions, violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and formed part of a broader campaign to suppress dissent concerning military action in Ukraine. 

Onslaught against protests  

Authorities across the region cracked down on the right to peaceful protests. In Türkiye, massive protests erupted across the country following the arrest on 19 March 2025 of over 100 people, mostly from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), including Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, alleged ‘corruption’ and ‘terrorism’ grounds – a move widely seen as politically motivated. The authorities banned demonstrations, temporarily restricted access to social media and messaging platforms, and urged X to block access to hundreds of accounts. Journalists who covered the protests were subjected to police violence and detention. Hundreds of people detained for exercising their right to protest  faced trial on charges including attending unauthorised demonstrations and failure to disperse. 

In Serbia, rocked by student-led protests since November 2024 (part of the global trend of Gen Z protests also seen in Bulgaria and France), the authorities targeted the education system, expanding the use of politically motivated arrests and prosecutions to intimidate and silence critics. State and non-state actors stood accused of escalating violence during the protests, leading to further violations of rights. Independent journalists faced attacks, verbal threats and intimidation by public officials, law enforcement officials and individuals. In an open letter published on 12 September 2025, PEN International urged immediate and robust EU action. 

In the United Kingdom, PEN International joined the UK PEN Centres in expressing deep concern over the proscription of the protest group Palestine Action under terrorism legislation. The organisations warned that writers, artists, academics and others speaking out on matters of public concern would find themselves at risk of arrest or prosecution – not for acts of violence or incitement, but for association with ideas or causes deemed controversial – a serious threat to the space for open debate and civil dissent. Court proceedings against a legal challenge to the proscription were ongoing in March 2026.   

In Georgia, veteran journalist Mzia Amaglobeli and renowned poet and translator Zviad Ratiani were sentenced to two years in prison on politically motivated grounds on 6 August 2025 and 9 October 2025, respectively (see Georgia section below). Amaglobeli testified about the abuse she suffered by police, with impunity. Her case highlights broader concerns of gender-based violence and reprisals against women protesters in Georgia. On 16 October 2025, the authorities introduced harsher penalties for taking part in protests, including administrative detention and one-year prison terms. On 5 November 2025, acclaimed poet and former President of PEN Georgia, Paata Shamugia, was sentenced to five days of administrative detention for ‘blocking the roadway’ in Tbilisi after protesting. Shamugia previously wrote about the critical role of writers in upholding fundamental rights.  

Defending artistic freedom 

PEN International urged authorities across the region to uphold the freedom to create. In Türkiye, an investigation was launched against Kurdish PEN member Mehmet Dicle and ZİZ Publishing House on ‘terror propaganda’ grounds in relation to Dicle’s book Berfa Sor. The investigation, which was closed following PEN’s campaign, came amidst a growing crackdown on reading materials and the publishing landscape in the country (see Türkiye section below). 

In Belarus, prison authorities systematically confiscated and destroyed the literary manuscripts and letters of those imprisoned on politically-motivated grounds, affecting writers, literary figures, and activists alike. In a briefing published in December 2025, PEN Belarus unveiled the scale of the repression unleashed by the authorities, with scores of cultural figures facing criminal or administrative charges for their creative outputs. 

In the Russian Federation, a new law that came into effect on 1 September 2025 barred individuals labelled as ‘foreign agents’ – including writers and journalists – from engaging in any educational, pedagogical, or awareness-raising activities in state or municipal educational institutions. 

In October 2025 PEN International published, Critical Junctures: Safeguarding the Freedom to Create in Poland, a report documenting the challenges to freedom of expression and cultural rights in Poland between 2015 and 2025. PEN International and Polish PEN urged the authorities to ensure that the protection of artistic freedom is accompanied not only by legal reform but by a cultural transformation that fosters inclusivity, equity, and pluralism. 

PEN International welcomed the Council of Europe’s CreateToBeFree initiative – a new discursive platform inaugurated in April 2025 that aims to connect key stakeholders, including cultural organisations, policymakers, and researchers, to facilitate exchanges on freedom of artistic expression and its role in strengthening democratic resilience. PEN International sits on the advisory board.  

Good news

PEN International joined PEN Ukraine in welcoming the release of Vladyslav Yesypenko (June 2025), Dmytro Khyliuk and Mark Kaliush (August 2025), three journalists from Ukraine who had been unlawfully detained and imprisoned in the Russian Federation.  

On 19 June 2025, the government of Montenegro withdrew a de facto block on student enrolment at the Faculty of Montenegrin Language and Literature following PEN’s campaign to uphold academic freedom.  

On 10 November 2025, a court in Istanbul dismissed the case against writer Yavuz Ekinci as the statute of limitations had expired. Ekinci faced years in prison on ‘terror propaganda’ grounds in Türkiye for his book, Rüyası Bölünenler (Dream Divided). PEN International – which had actively campaigned for Ekinci for years – welcomed the verdict and urged the authorities to lift their ban on Dream Divided (see Türkiye section below). 

PEN International welcomed the ECtHR’s judgment in the case of Tsaava and Others v. Georgia handed down on 11 December 2025. The judgment reaffirmed the existence of a positive obligation on Contracting States to have effective systems for protecting journalists covering protests and set an important precedent regarding the dispersal of demonstrations using rubber bullets (‘kinetic impact projectiles’). PEN Georgia, PEN International and English PEN had filed a third-party intervention before the Court in February 2025.