As part of the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN), Ljubljana has adopted Moroccan writer and journalist Ali Amar.

In 1997, Ali Amar co-founded and then led Morocco’s first independent weekly ‘Le Journal hebdomadaire’ (‘the Weekly Journal’). Following numerous attacks by the Moroccan regime, this ceased publication in January 2010.

He was persecuted in his homeland due to his thorough research into the Moroccan monarchical system. In 2009 his book ‘Mohamed VI, the great misunderstanding’ was published and then banned in Morocco. His book reveals the reality of the first ten years of the Moroccan king’s reign.

Ljubljana joined the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) in 2011, while it held the UNESCO title of World Book Capital (23 April 2010 – 23 April 2011).

The ICORN network began its work at the initiative of Salman Rushdie and the International Parliament of Writers (IPW) in 1994 as an international network of cities that offer shelter to writers who are under threat due to their artistic creativity and expression of opinions. A large number of cities from numerous democratic countries are in the network, mostly in Norway where the network has been up and running ever since 1995. The city - sanctuary enables the writer to avoid imprisonment or worse and create a new social network in a new environment, find employment of other opportunities for survival and ensures conditions for work in times which are especially hard after fleeing their homeland.

The list of cities, hosted authors and other details about the network can be found at www.icorn.org.