Thursday 11 February 2010

Fellow blogger arrested in Iran

Unite for Human Rights in Iran
Three days ago fellow CDPB photoblogger Amir Sadeghi was arrested in Tehran by Iranian government authorities in what seems to be a further concerted action to suppress and intimidate journalists and bloggers from sharing information or images of anti-government demonstrations. Amir was picked up at his place of work, a newspaper, on February 8th because of photos he took of the violent government crackdown on a December 27 demonstration and published on his personal blog, Tehranlive.org. He also publishes Tehran 24. He had previously been arrested and released last June after a number of days in prison. At that time he had been randomly picked up while out in the streets photographing the huge public demonstrations after the controversial presidential election. 65 journalists and bloggers are currently reported to be held by the Iranian government, and others have fled the country seeking asylum in France. Internet bandwidth, use of satellite dishes and other media access is being severely limited in the lead up to the 31st anniversary observances of the 1979 Iranian revolution on February 11. If you feel freedom of expression is a valuable cause please sign the petition for Amir's release , join the Unite for Human Rights in Iran group on facebook or visit the Amnesty International website for an update on the situation in Iran.

Un confrère blogueur arrêté en Iran.
il y a trois jours, le 8 février 2010, un ami du réseau City Daily Photo, Amir Sadeghi, a été arrêté sur son lieu de travail à Téhéran par les autorités iraniennes pour avoir publié sur son blog www.tehranlive.org des photos de la manifestation anti-gouvernementale du 27 décembre dernier. Il avait déjà été arrêté une première fois en juin dernier
dans le cadre d'une rafle de gens qui prenaient des photos des énormes manifestations qui avaient suivi l'élection contestée du président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Amir avait été relâché après avoir passé plusieurs jours en prison. A l'heure actuelle, 65 journalistes et blogueurs sont détenus par le gouvernement iranien, de nombreux autres ont trouvé l'asile politique en France. Il semble que l'objet soit d'intimider les journalistes et les blogueurs pour les empêcher de rendre compte des manifestations anti-gouvernement qui continuent. Si vous pensez que la liberté d'expression mérite qu'on se batte, signez ici la pétition pour la libération d'Amir , rejoignez sur Facebook le groupe Unite for Human Rights in Iran ou visitez le site d' Amnesty International qui vous en dira plus sur la situation en Iran.

12 comments:

Nathalie H.D. said...

Mon blog traite d'habitude de sujets légers mais à quoi sert un réseau comme City Daily Photo si les autres blogueurs du réseau ne se mobilisent pas lors de l'arrestation abusive d'un de ses membres ? La solidarité, c'est ça et la liberté d'expression, ça se défend.

My blog usually keeps a light-hearted tone but what is the point of a network such as City Daily Photo Blogs if members of the network don't unite against the abusive arrest of one of them? That's what solidarity is about.
Freedom of speech is worth fighting for.

Lydia said...

Many thanks for bringing this to our attention. You are representing the spirit of solidarity in a beautiful way.
May this turn out safely for Amir Sadeghi. I will sign the petition now.

Louis la Vache said...

Thank you for posting this. We've got to speak up against tyranny. We must not attempt to appease tyranny. Remember Neville Chamberlain and Munich, 1938.

Fardoise said...

Tu as raison Nathalie, aujourd'hui en Iran et demain où ? La liberté est un bien précieux.

crederae said...

bonjour chère Nathalie, thankyou for this post. I extend my heart and compassion totally to these bloggers emprisonned in Iran however, it is unfortunate that they were not informed beforehand about publishing material that may be offensive to Iranian officials and censoring groups. Were they not aware of the consequences of such activity?

Well each one to his own, but if I went to Iran I would follow Iran's rules.When in Rome do as the romans and I would save the blogging for later when I was in another country.
Protestation is good but be aware of boundaries that will lead to martyrdom.

I have to snicker when the"free western world," talks about freedom of expression.There are varying degrees of freedom of expression it is true but the western world has built in controls that are not observable on first glance.

well anyway just another angle on this...

Michel Benoit said...

Je... n'ai pas trouvé le lien vers la pétition...

Nathalie H.D. said...

Crederae, the only thing wrong with what you say is you seem to think that Iran's or any country's rules were the same forever so it was only a case of adapting to some fixed conditions.

History teaches us that in fact our world is changing constantly, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, but evolving all the time.

And some people know (or believe)that their own actions can make the world change for the better (or what they think is the better). They want to be actors of that change.

That means engaging in action, and sometimes getting in trouble for it.

You can decide that it's stupid of them to think that they can change the world around them, or you can think that the changes they want to bring about are not worth the effort, fine.

That's not my belief.

This is not a case, as you say, of "the free western world talking about freedom of expression" it is about an Iranian man making decisions for himself, in his own country.

You can let him drown. Your choice. Not mine.

History shows that committed people can achieve great things. I want to support them.

crederae said...

You are not more right than I am Nathalie and I am not right than you are. we both have something legitimate to say.

First of all I did not call them stupid and I think that people should take action to make the world a better place.Secondly I did not say that Iran's rules were the same forever.

The main point I was trying to make is that when people protest they should be aware of boundaries and if they still wish to go ahead and sacrificie themselves well so be it and yes they have sacrificed themselves for the common good.The most extreme example of this is suicide bombing._To fight back to free an arab world they must blow themselves up.

I look up to people that protest and take risks for the sake of justice. but there is nothing wrong with suggesting that they take the safest route possible.

I am not discussing this any further Nathalie .it is your journal go ahead ha ha.

If you do protest against what I am saying it will most likely be the case that you do not understand what I am trying to convey and or I wasn't clear enought about saying it.haha hugs.

crederae said...

and I do not wish to spend any more time on this. I am off to work and then off to watch the olympics on a nearby wide screen corner lounge

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Nathalie H.D. said...

Crederea - International pressure is a more powerful tool than you seem to think. But off you go to your winter games. Enjoy!

Nathalie H.D. said...

A Joyous Update: Thanks to Kim of Seattle Daily Photo for the great news that photo blogger Amir Sadeghi of Tehran 24 and Tehran Live has been freed from Evin prison in Tehran. Amir is free. What fabulous news!

Nathalie H.D. said...

Bonne nouvelle le 19 février, Amir a été libéré de la prison d'Evin à Téhéran. Amir est libre, c'est formidable !

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