Sahar Bayati

Sahar Bayati is a journalist from Iran. She has more than ten years’ experience working as a journalist, interpreter and news editor for various media outlets in Iran, including the dailies Kargozaran, Hamshahri and Tehran Emrooz; as well as for the news agencies Daypress and AFTAB. Bayati holds a BA in Journalism and a BA in Foreign Policy. 

After fleeing to Malaysia in July 2011, Sahar Bayati worked in a freelance capacity for the IranWire (based in the UK), BBC Persian Service, Raha TV (based in the UK) and Mihan magazine (based in Malaysia). Her reports include investigation into the alleged involvement of the Iranian intelligence services in the drug trade and money-laundering in Malaysia. 

Bayatis critical approach and writings on society caused her to be fired from her job both at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and the Daypress. She was banned from working as a journalist for five years, and started receiving threats from governmental organisations. As a result of the pressure against her, Bayati decided to leave Iran, and arrived in Malaysia in 2011. In Malaysia, she was able to work as a journalist on a working visa, which was reportedly cancelled in early 2013 due to pressure from the Iranian Embassy in Malaysia on her employers. She was also reportedly threatened by Iranian embassy officials and the Malaysian police because of her journalistic activities in Malaysia. 

Bayati is a member of Haugaland KunstVerk and is at the moment editing her short story for publishing and continues her job reporting for the London based IranWire (en.iranwire.com). She is the guest writer in Haugesund City of Refuge from 2014 to 2016.