Shappi Khorsandi to host Index on Censorship awards ceremony

Shappi Khorsandi: Censorship was a huge thing in my family. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/Murdo Macleod

Comedian Shappi Khorsandi is to host Index on Censorships freedom of expression awards on 18 March.

It is an apt choice because her father, the Iranian writer and satirist Hadi Khorsandi, fled to Britain in 1979 with his family, including six-year-old Shappi, after criticising the regime that emerged in the wake of Irans Islamic revolution.

Even in the UK, Khorsandi continued to receive death threats. During the 1979 revolution against the Shah, there were crowds calling for my fathers execution because of his satirical writings, says Shappi.

The only way to stay in Iran was to toe the party line. He chose exile, a profound experience for a writer.

They have to leave their home country to be able to express themselves freely in their native language. Censorship was a huge thing in my family.

Once in Britain, Hadi Khorsandi continued writing and also published a satirical newspaper: Because of this there was a plot to assassinate him in 1984, says his daughter.

There were always Index on Censorship logos in our house because of my fathers work. Its quite an honour to have been asked to host the awards, one I accepted on my fathers behalf.

Many of those shortlisted for Indexs latest freedom of expression awards have experienced similar attempts to silence them. Lirio Abbate, an Italian journalist who faces constant threat of attack because of his investigations into the mafia, has 24-hour police protection.

Others, like Angolan journalist Rafael Marques de Morais, Moroccan rapper El Haqed and Ecuadorian cartoonist Bonil are repeatedly threatened with jail for challenging government and business interests.

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Shappi Khorsandi to host Index on Censorship awards ceremony