World Press Freedom Day: Persecuted journalists find safe haven in ICORN cities
Added: May 2010 to Network News
Today on 3rd May, the World Press Freedom Day, we are reminded that we should never take the free word, nor the free press for granted. International PEN reports that as many as 79 journalists were killed in 2009, while according to the Committee to Protect Journalists 24 journalists have been killed while championing the free word in 2010.
ICORN receives an increasing number of applications from journalists unable to work and write in the service of freedom of expression in their homelands. Thanks to the more than 30 cities in the network, persecuted journalists from Iran, Zimbabwe, Serbia, Iraq, Kenya, Russia and Tunisia, among others, are able to write and publish freely today.
It is our hope, says ICORN director Helge Lunde, that we can increase the number of member cities further, to be able to offer refuge to a larger amount of journalists in the coming months and years.
Asieh Amini from Iran is among the many journalists who are currently hosted by an ICORN city of refuge.
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