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List of people imprisoned for editing Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clockwise from top-left: Bassel Khartabil Safadi (pictured in 2010), Mark Bernstein (pictured in 2013), Osama Khalid and Ziyad al-Sofiani (pictured in 2016)

There are eight known cases of Wikipedia editors being imprisoned for contributing to Wikipedia. In the case of Bassel Khartabil, he was subsequently executed.

By country

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Belarus

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Main article: Persecution of Wikipedians in Belarus
  • Mark Bernstein (Марк Израйлевич Бернштейн), a Belarusian editor of the Russian Wikipedia, was detained on 11 March 2022 for violating the Russian 2022 war censorship laws by editing Wikipedia articles about the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and sentenced to 15 days detention and three years of restricted freedom.[1][2][3] He lives under restricted freedom, a parole-like sentence.
  • Pavel Pernikaŭ (Павел Аляксандравіч Пернікаў),[a] a Belarusian editor of the Belarusian Wikipedia, was sentenced on 7 April 2022 to two years in a penal colony for online postings "discrediting the Republic of Belarus" including two edits to Wikipedia about political repression in Belarus.[4][5][6] According to Viasna Human Rights Centre, Pernikov was released on 28 August 2023.
  • Volha Sitnik (Вольга Сітнік), a Belarusian activist and administrator of the Belarusian Wikipedia, was detained on 17 April 2025 and later released. She was detained again on 7 May 2025. She has been imprisoned on unknown charges.[7]
  • Maksim Lepushenka (Максім Лепушэнка), a Belarusian editor, administrator, and bureaucrat of the Belarusian Wikipedia, was detained on 15 May 2025.[8] Maksim was charged under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them). In August 2025, he was sentenced to restricted freedom.[9]
  • In November 2025, the Minsk prosecutor's office announced a two-year prison sentence and fine for a 37-year-old university lecturer for 25 edits made between 2020 and 2025 about the state symbols of the Republic of Belarus, presidential elections and referendums, and the activities of the authorities. Nasha Niva identified him as editor Kazimier Lachnovič, who had abruptly stopped editing Wikipedia in March of the same year.[10] In March 2026, he was one of 250 political prisoners released as a result of negotiations between Alexander Lukashenko and the US Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale.[11]

Saudi Arabia

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  • Osama Khalid (أسامة خالد), a Saudi Arabian former administrator of the Arabic Wikipedia, was sentenced to five years imprisonment in September 2020 for "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals" by making edits "critical about the persecution of political activists in the country".[12] Khalid's sentence was increased to 32 years in September 2022 as part of a campaign to lengthen the sentences of political detainees, according to Democracy for the Arab World Now and SMEX, a Lebanese non-governmental organization.[13][14] He is still incarcerated as of October 2025.
  • Ziyad al-Sofiani (زياد السفياني), also a former administrator of the Arabic Wikipedia, was likewise charged with "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals" by making edits "critical about the persecution of political activists in the country". He was sentenced in September 2020 to eight years in prison[12][13][14] and was released in March 2025.[15]

Syria

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  • Bassel Khartabil (باسل خرطبيل) was a contributor to a number of open-source projects including Wikipedia; his arrest in 2012 was likely connected to his online activity. He was executed at Adra Prison near Damascus in 2015.[16] Several organizations, including the Wikimedia Foundation, established the Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship in his honor in 2017, for an initial period of three years.[17] In August 2017, Khartabil's wife and friends reported they had seen a copy of official documents confirming he had been executed after his transfer from Adra Prison in 2015.[18]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Also spelt Pavel Pernikov when transliterated from Павел Перников

References

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  1. ^ "Belarusian Blogger Handed Parole-Like Sentence". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 24 June 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  2. ^ Song, Victoria (11 March 2022). "A top Wikipedia editor has been arrested in Belarus". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
  3. ^ "В Беларуси задержали Марка Бернштейна — активиста и популяризатора интернет-энциклопедии Wikipedia.org" [Mark Bernstein – an activist and populariser of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia – was detained in Belarus]. Zerkalo.io (in Russian). 11 March 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  4. ^ "В Беларуси редактора "Википедии" приговорили к 2 годам колонии по статье о "дискредитации" страны" [In Belarus, the editor of "Wikipedia" was sentenced to 2 years in prison under an article about "discrediting" the country]. Current Time TV (in Russian). 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-06-01. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  5. ^ "В Беларуси редактора "Википедии" приговорили к 2 годам колонии за правки в статьях о протестах" [Wikipedia editor sentenced to 2 years in prison in Belarus for editing articles about protests]. Esquire (Russian edition) (in Russian). 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-01-16. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  6. ^ "Редактора Википедии из Бреста приговорили к двум годам колонии за правки к статьям, "дискредитирующие Белоруссию"" [Wikipedia editor from Brest sentenced to two years in prison for editing articles "discrediting Belarus"]. Fontanka.ru (in Russian). 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  7. ^ "Спецслужбы шукаюць фатографаў на мітынг Ціханоўскіх праз скрадзены акаўнт арыштаванай рэдактаркі Вікіпедыі". Nasha Niva (in Belarusian). 25 June 2025. Archived from the original on 2025-07-12. Retrieved 2025-07-23.
  8. ^ "The statement on the recognition of four people as political prisoners". Viasna. 18 June 2025. Retrieved 2025-07-23.
  9. ^ "Администратор беларусской Википедии Максим Лепушенко получил «домашнюю химию»". Reform.news [be] (in Russian).
  10. ^ "Кто тот редактор белорусской Википедии, которого посадили на два года за «дискредитацию Беларуси»?". Nasha Niva (in Russian). 17 November 2025.
  11. ^ "Список освобожденных политзаключенных — обновляется". Reform.news [be] (in Russian).
  12. ^ a b Belanger, Ashley (6 January 2023). "Wikipedia admin jailed for 32 years after alleged Saudi spy infiltration". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  13. ^ a b "Saudi Arabia jails two Wikipedia staff in 'bid to control content'". The Guardian. 5 January 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Wikidata Q116039713.
  14. ^ a b "Saudi Arabia 'infiltrated' Wikipedia to control content, activists say". Middle East Eye. 5 January 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-01-27. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  15. ^ ALQST [@ALQST_En] (11 March 2025). "🕊️ Ziyad al-Sufiani has been released after over four and a half years of arbitrary imprisonment" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).
  16. ^ "Bassel Khartabil: Syrian internet freedom activist 'executed'". BBC News. 2 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2023-03-15. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  17. ^ Maher, Katherine; Merkley, Ryan; Surman, Mark (11 August 2017). "Honoring our friend Bassel: Announcing the Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship". Diff. Archived from the original on 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  18. ^ "Bassel Khartabil", Wikipedia, 2 June 2025, retrieved 2025-07-10
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