24 Sep 10 | Index Index, minipost
Bertrand Delanoé, the mayor of Paris, yesterday called for the Iranian authorities to spare the life of Hossein Derakhshan. In a press release, the mayor described Derakhshan as “ friend of France and Paris” and appealed for help to “save this honourable, courageous and dignified life”. Delanoé’s words will add to the growing calls in support of Derakhshan. His girlfriend Sandria Murcia has released a statement encouraging the “global community to help”.
See also: Hossein Derakhshan may face death penalty
23 Sep 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
A judge who was suing two activists and a blogger with defamation, blackmail and “abuse of the Internet service” has withdrawn the lawsuit. Gamal Eid of the Arabic Network of Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Ahmed Seif El Islam Hamad of the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre (HMLC) and blogger Amr Gharbeia reached an out-of-court settlement with Judge Abel Fatteh Murad on 18 September. The trial date was originally set for July, but hearings were postponed five times. The three men agreed to withdraw a complaint accusing the judge of plagiary.
25 Jun 10 | Middle East and North Africa, News and features
After 21 months being in jail, controversial blogger Hossein Derakhshan, (aka Hoder) finally faced trial on 23 June, writes Hamid Tehrani
Iran’s semi-official news agency Fars [Farsi] claims the charges against Derakhshan are working with “hostile” states, propaganda against the Islamic regime, propaganda in favor of anti-revolutionary groups, insulting religious sanctities, and launching and managing “obscene” websites.
Abolqasem Salavati has been identified as the presiding judge. Salavati oversaw some of the major post-election trials of 2009. In those cases, Salavati got a chance to sit in judgment over some of Iran’s most prominent political figures, including former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi, former deputy speaker of parliament Behzad Nabavi, former government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, and a number of other former government officials.
Fars does not provide specific information about the trial except that the prosecutor’s representative read out a long list of charges in the presence of Hossein’s family, his lawyer and the judge.
Conservative Jahan News [Farsi], published the same information as Fars, but also quoted some of Derakhshan’s blog posts to demonstrate his support for reformists and his hostility to some of Iranian leaders including Ayatholah Khamenei, Ayatholah Mesbah Yazdi and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Jahan News adds that it cannot publish the insults regarding religious figures. But what the site calls “insults” are a few points of view and critiques. Jahan omits to mention that for more than a year before traveling back to Iran Hossein was a supporter of Ahmadinejad.
Cyrus Farivar, a German-based journalist who has followed the case closely, managed to get this quote via email from a source close to Derakhshan’s family:
“One trial session was held and although no family members were allowed in, but the family remains optimistic that no serious issues exist in his case. Plus, considering the fact that he has already served a long time in prison, most of which has been in solitary confinement, the family doesn’t expect a longer jail sentence. There are more court sessions to be held before the final verdict is out.”
The reasons for Hoder’s initial arrest remain unclear, but some speculate that his two (highly publicised) trips to Israel were behind it.
Iranian Blogger Z8tun summed up the situation 21 months ago: “other Iranians have been caught visiting Israel, but were released after a few hours of interrogation. Some speculate that Derakhshan, who in recent years became a supporter of President Ahmadinejad’s government, was arrested because he insulted some religious leaders in the country. He has himself argued in Western media, despite multiple testimonies of jailed bloggers, that nobody goes to jail in Iran because of the content of their blog.”
The Islamic Republic has cracked down on the blogosphere in recent years, and there are several other bloggers in jail in Iran including human rights activist Shiva Nazar Ahari. On 18 March 2009 Omid Reza Mir Sayafi became the first blogger to die in suspicious circumstances in an Iranian prison.
Campaign for Derakhshan’s release through the Free Hoder Facebook page
Hamid Tehrani, Iran Editor of Global Voices
18 May 10 | Index Index, minipost
On 14 May, a Cuban appeal court reduced a blogger’s 20 months jail sentence to a fine of 300 pesos (12 dollars). Dania Virgen, who writes El Blog de Dania, was charged with abuse of authority for mistreating her 23-year-old daughter, who disapproved of her political activism. Yoani Sánchez has published an article and video interview with Dania Virgen on her blog.
