Posts Tagged ‘Iran’
February 15th, 2012
Iranian blogger Mehdi Khazali’s wife and daughter have allegedly been kidnapped by security forces and moved to an unknown location, it was
reported yesterday. Khazali, a staunch critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran’s state policies, was
sentenced to 13 years and 10 months in prison and 10 years in exile on 7 February for “insulting the supreme leader”. The blogger has been on hunger strike for 38 days.
February 13th, 2012
Internet censorship has
dramatically increased in
Iran over the last week. On 7 February, internet users in Iran began reporting an increase in the blocking and filtering of certain kinds of internet traffic in the country. Many users complained of not being able to access HTTPS websites, the secure and encrypted version of HTTP protocol. Many banks, Google services, Twitter, Facebook, and Microsoft Hotmail use HTTPS to protect private data. Though there have been no official announcements regarding the changes, it is widely believed to be the first step towards a
Halal internet.
February 3rd, 2012
Ten
Iranian journalists were
arrested in January as the government continued its
crackdown on dissent ahead of March’s parliamentary elections. Recent reports identified three previously undisclosed arrests. Critical blogger Mehdi Khazali was arrested by security forces in Tehran on 9 January and charged with “insulting the supreme leader.” Authorities arrested Paris-based journalist Saeed Razavi Faghih on 17 January as he arrived at a Tehran airport; and on the same day security forces in Tabriz arrested Payman Pakmehr, founder of Tabriz news website, which covers the arrests of local activists, and charged him with “propagating against the regime.” Seven other journalists were also arrested last month.
February 3rd, 2012
BBC’s Persian TV service has faced further
intimidation in Iran. It has been
reported that relatives of BBC staff in London have been detained and threatened by Iranian intelligence agents; top presenters have been targeted by rumours; and one employee has subjected to an online interrogation in London after a family member in Iran was jailed.Since its launch in 2009 channel has suffered jamming and deliberate attempts to interfere with its signal. Tensions between Britain and Iran have worsened in recent weeks, with British regulator Ofcom
revoking Iranian state broadcaster Press TV’s UK licence last month for breaching the Communications Act.
January 19th, 2012
Two journalists have
been arrested in
Iran following a new
crackdown on journalists and women’s rights activists. Blogger and activist Parastou Dokouhaki, was arrested on Sunday, while journalist Marzieh Rasouli was arrested on Tuesday. Dokouhaki, who used to work for feminist magazine, was arrested after security agents entered her home, confiscated her computer and personal effects, and detained her. She is charged with “propaganda against the state”. Rasouli, who has written for a number of Reformist and independent publications, is charged with acts against national security.
January 18th, 2012
Iran’s Supreme court
has upheld the death sentence against a Canadian web designer. Saeed Malekpour was
sentenced to death last January for “anti-government agitation and insulting Islam,” following his arrest in October 2008. He was accused of creating a site Iran claims was used to post “pornographic” images. Malekpour, whose sentence was upheld yesterday, was arrested whilst visiting his ailing father. The designer’s family confirmed the sentencing after the Revolutionary Guard pressured for him to be executed. Malekpour has reportedly been
singled out for especially harsh treatment during his time at Evin Prison.
January 6th, 2012
Police in
Iran have begun a heavy clampdown on internet freedom ahead of parliamentary elections in March, as
tighter regulations on internet cafe use are introduced. Under the new rules, cafe owners will have to take the forename, surname, paternal name, national identification number, postcode and telephone number of each customer, along with the date and time of internet use and the addresses of sites visited. Newspaper reports have also suggested plans to launch a national internet network are underway, prompting fears that Iranian web users could be cut off from the World Wide Web.
December 5th, 2011
Foreign media have been
banned from covering rallies in front of British diplomatic missions in
Iran. The ban, which began on
Thursday is the latest fallout following last week’s storming of Britain’s embassy in Tehran by pro-government demonstrators. Though Iran have previously banned foreign media from covering anti-government protests, this is the first time coverage of pro-government rallies has been banned.
