Journalists in exile Journalists and their families forced to flee their homeland in fear of their lives for having had the effrontery to tell the truth. It’s an all-too-familiar story. But what ha...
Reza Ganji
Reza Ganji was born in Iran in 1975 and graduated in journalism. In 2009 he began to work as a journalist and photographer for the reformist Iranian website Mowj e Sevvem (third wave) and then he became a host and correspondent for Mowj, an internet-based TV station, where he interviewed many famous political and cultural figures. Mowj tried to break censorship and provide unsanctioned news to its viewers. Mowj had already been threatened a number of times when on the day of Iranian's presidential fraud election (June 2009) government militia forces attacked the TV studio with tear gas and arrested people there for a short time. More arrests of Mowj staff were made in the following days. Many newspapers were banned and many independent journalists were arrested and tortured during the widespread demonstartions that followed the election result. In that situation, the Italian embassy in Tehran helped Reza Ganji to get out of Iran. He is currently living in Rome and works as a freelance journalist with a variety of media, including the BBC Persian section. In June 2010, an exhibition was held at the Galleria Hofficina D'Arte in Rome of his photos of Iran's fraud presidental election.