Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, under threat of death from Islamist extremists who accuse her of blasphemy in her writings, is to take up residence in Paris, the city hall said today.
Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, under threat of death from Islamist extremists who accuse her of blasphemy in her writings, is to take up residence in Paris, the city hall said today.
Municipal authorities will provide her with a large studio in an artists' residence in the 10th arrondissement, in the east of the French capital, and initially pay her rent. Nasreen, who was made an honorary citizen of Paris in July 2008, put in an application for housing six weeks ago.
"You are at home here, in the city where it was proclaimed that men are born and remain free and equal and nobody can be condemned for their beliefs," Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe said when she was given honorary citizenship.
Nasreen was forced to flee her native country in 1994 after her novel "Lajja" (Shame) about the persecution of a Hindu family by Muslims in Bangladesh drew accusations of blasphemy.
A gynaecologist by training, she spent several years moving between Europe and the United States before settling in India in 2004. Renewed threats drove her to Sweden in March 2008.
