Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online explores the Dissident Club, on Rue Richer in Paris, which is arousing the curiosity of intelligence services in Asian countries likely to be tracking down their opponents far from home.
It's a small bar on Rue Richer in Paris with an unassuming red facade and a curious name. The Dissident Club was opened in January 2020 by Taha Siddiqui, a Pakistani journalist living in exile in France and the author of an autobiographical graphic novel recently published by Glénat.
The bar is transparent about its clientele: it's where opponents of regimes with the most complex, top-down governance seek refuge for a drink, a conference or a jazz concert.
More or less discreet clients
