Three Iranian refugee journalists housed in Dijon

Accommodation has been found for three Iranian refugee journalists in the French city Dijon thanks to the efforts of Reporters Without Borders-Burgundy and exemplary cooperation from all the local authorities (Dijon city hall, Côte d'Or general council and Burgundy regional council). Reporters Without Borders and the Côte d'Or public housing office signed a three-month rental contract on 5 January for Benyamin Sadr, Sepideh Pooraghaiee and Ghasam Shirzadian. Reporters Without Borders is also due to receive financial support from the regional and departmental authorities that is intended to cover not only their immediate basic needs but also help fund their integration into French society (including language courses and housing assistance after the initial three-month rental period). Two other journalists who have fled Iran are due to arrive in Burgundy in the next few days and move into accommodation that the city of Dijon will give them for four months. After a quick tour of the city in the company of Thomas Barbier of Reporters Without Borders-Burgundy, the Iranian journalists told a large group of local journalists they were happy and confident about the move. Thanks to the support of the French authorities, 11 persecuted Iranian journalists and bloggers have arrived in France seeking asylum, some of them with their families. Reporters Without Borders is organising their travel and lodging and is assisting them with all the necessary administrative procedures. It is also mobilising its network of regional correspondents to help ensure that French society gives them a decent reception. Sadr, who covered politics for reformist publications and the Hamshahrionline website, had been arrested several times since 2008 because of his journalistic activities and his support for the pro-democracy movement. After the authorities stepped up their offensive against journalists, he crossed on foot into Turkey in August and arrived in France on 21 December. Pooraghaiee, who worked for various news media including the newspaper Gozareshe Rooz, spent 110 days in prison in 2007 as a result of her journalistic activities. During last June’s presidential election, she criticised the government’s efforts to discredit the reformist candidate Mehdi Karoubi. After reporting on manoeuvres by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s supporters, in defiance of the information ministry’s threats, she and Shirzadian, who is her husband, fled to Iraqi Kurdistan in September and arrived in France on 23 December.