Syrian writer Nihad Sirees  will appear at the Night of Dictatorship at the special invitation of Humanity House for a conversation with writer and Syria expert Maarten Zeegers.

In 2012 Sirees was forced to leave Syria, first for Egypt and then for Germany, because the Assad regime viewed him as an enemy.

Sirees gained international fame with his novel The Silence an the Roar, a humorous story about the battle of one individual against tyranny. The book charts one day in the life of Fathi Sheen, a writer no longer allowed to publish because of his refusal to write propaganda for the government. The book was banned in Syria.

About the programme

Zeegers will talk to Sirees about his early life in Syria, the unwritten rules of dictatorship, and their influence on his creativity and inner thoughts. They will also discuss his life in exile in Germany. All his books are set in the Syrian city of Aleppo, but now he has to discover a new world. How does that work?

About the Night of Dictatorship

This programme is part of the Night of Dictatorship and takes place at ProDemos. A whole range of events about dictatorship and freedom will take place throughout the night.

ProDemos is organizing this event for the sixth year in a row in The Hague, together with Amnesty International, Atrium City Hall, Filmhuis Den Haag, the Prison Gate Museum, Humanity House, the Montesquieu Institute, Movies that Matter, Nieuwspoort, the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD), the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (NIOD) and Transparency International.