Photo credit: TKT
We look forward to the next foundation guests!

Kumaman Kanapathipillai “Having grown up during the years of civil war marked by atrocities and endless suffering, for at least 10 years photojournalist Kumanan Kanapathippillai (30) has been reporting about the suffering and the violation of human rights of the Tamils.”
Press release Kumaman Kanapathipillai
https://kumananimages.com/
Press release Kumaman Kanapathipillai
https://kumananimages.com/
Stanislav Aseyev Aseyev fights with pen and gun against the Russian war criminals. On his platform “Justice Initiative Fund”(www.jif.fund/en) they get a public face. Stanislav Aseyev has been reporting undercover for a long time from the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, when he was abducted to the “Isolaziya” torture prison by pro-Russian separatists on May 11, 2017.
Press release Stanislav Aseyev
Press release Stanislav Aseyev
Alexander Goncharenko The Russian human rights activist worked for a long time as medical practitioner. In April 2022, the district court in Barnaul convicted him of “public acts discrediting the deployment of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The proceedings were triggered by the blog entry “I cannot and will not be silent“
Press release Alexander Goncharenko
Press release Alexander Goncharenko
Rana The scriptwriter and filmmaker Rana (pseudonym) produces each of her films under high stress and says she always has to expend a lot of energy to avoid thinking about the consequences threatened in her country. In Germany, she would like to think about a new screenplay.
Press release Rana (Pseudonym)
Press release Rana (Pseudonym)
Nazanin As a contemporary composer and musician, Nazanin (pseudonym) also faces major problems in her country. Although she is considered a great talent in her field, public performances in her home country remain forbidden to her. She wants to get to know the work of her European colleagues, make new contacts and be able to work “without scissors in her head” for once.
Press release Nazanin (Pseudonym)
Press release Nazanin (Pseudonym)
Current guests 2020-2022

Heval Bozbay. The Kurdish archaeologist Heval Bozbay successfully searched fo testimonies of the past civilization on the territory of today’s Turkey. Because of his public criticism of the Turkish Minister of Culture, Bozbay has been banned from all archaeological excavations since 2013.
Link to Press release
Link to Press release

Masrat Zahra is a photojournalist comes from the disputed region of Kashmir which is claimed by both India and Pakistan. Since 1989, an armed insurgency led local Kashmiris and supported by Pakistan has been raging in the scenic region against the Indian rule. She has already been honoured with important international awards for ex. in 2020 the ” Peter Mackler Award” and the “Anja Niendringhaus Award” for courageous photojournalism.
Link to Press release
Link to Press release

Tatsiana Tkachova. The award-winning photographer quit her permanent job at a state-owned daily newspaper, her contribution not being part of the system.
„STIMMEN FÜR DIE FREIHEIT”
The podcast of the Hamburg Foundation.
Johannes von Dohnanyi introduces – but not only – current and former guests of the foundation.
- Shammi Haque from Bangladesh
- Kamal Chomani – We will not be silenced! The young journalist and analyst Kamal Chomani had to flee his homeland after opposing the referndum for independance called by the Kurdish leadership. Even though today he is living in Germany, the former guest of the Hamburg Foundation for politically perscuted people hasn’t stopped fighting for democracy and human rights just in Kurdistan. „Iraqi from all walks of life are fed up with the system!“
- Shahindha Ismail – No place form me in paradise!
- Heval Bozbay – „I have still dreams.“
- Farzad Pak- Filmproduzent – Oppression and restrictions only foster creativity
- Farida Nekzad: – Dark times are coming back
- Aleksei Bobrovnikov: – Ukraine: „Ich hasse es, wenn meine Informanten getötet werden“
- Tanya Tkachova – Belarus: „ Ich habe getan, was ich konnte“.
- Masrat Zarah – Kashmir: „Nobody is safe in Kashmir“
All episodes can also be found here:
37 years Hamburg Foundation for Politically Persecuted People
The Hamburg Foundation supports politically
persecuted people who, because of advocating
democracy, freedom and human rights,
find themselves in a dangerous, often life-threatening
situation in their native countries.