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Faraj Bayrakdar (b. 1951) of Syria is a journalist and award-winning poet. In 1987 he was arrested on suspicion of belonging to the Party for Communist Action. He was held incommunicado for nearly seven years and tortured. In 1993 the supreme court sentenced him to fifteen years in prison. Fourteen months shy of completing his sentence, Bayrakdar was granted amnesty. He now lives in Sweden. He has won many awards, including the 1998 Hellman-Hammett Award, the 1999 International PEN Award from PEN American Center West, and the 2004 Free Word Award from NOVIB in the Netherlands.