23 Jun 2009 | Uncategorized
The author is an Iranian who wishes to remain anonymous
The crackdown on the post-election protests in Iran has had several dimensions. The most visible aspect is the overwhelming security presence on the streets of Tehran and other cities, and the actual physical attacks on the protestors, which have led to several dozen deaths and many injuries so far. The least visible aspect is the media war and the state’s unceasing efforts to monopolise the sources of information. Somewhere between these two very visible and not-so-visible aspects falls the campaign of arrests and detentions. Although the Iranian authorities are increasingly accusing Britain and other western countries of being behind the protests, they have not been shy about arresting many reformist activists and journalists in Iran as well. The legal authority behind the arrests is Saeed Mortazavi, Tehran’s chief prosecutor. In a previous incarnation, Mortazavi was the press court judge when many reformists papers were banned after the brief press “spring” that followed Mohammad Khatami’s election as president in 1997. So Mortazavi’s battle against reformist activists and journalists is long-standing.
The arrest of Mohammad Ghouchani, editor-in-chief of newspaper Etemaad Melli (National Confidence), published by reformist presidential candidate Mehdi Karrubi’s party, is fairly typical and is described on this page of the newspaper: Ghouchani is the young smiling face on the left-hand side of the page. The column underneath, headlined “Editor-in-chief’s arrest” describes his arrest as follows:
“Mohammad Ghouchani, editor in chief of Etemaad Melli, was arrested at two o’clock in the morning on Saturday. No reasons for his arrest were given to him or his wife, Maryam Baghi [daughter of human rights activist Emadeddin Baghi]. At two o’clock on Saturday morning, about six security personnel went to his house and said that they had a warrant for his arrest. The security personnel took Mohammad Ghouchani from his home to the Etemaad Melli newspaper office and filmed him alongside his computer and his personnel effects, and then took him away.”
Maryam Baghi told Etemaad Melli: “Our efforts to find out what Ghouchani is being charged with did not lead anywhere. They only said that the reason for his arrest was the recent events. Of course, ‘recent events’ is not a charge and, if they detain someone, they should explain what he is being charged with…”
A recent editorial by Ghouchani is also re-produced in the column underneath his picture and the account of his arrest. In the editorial, Ghouchani said that nowadays, it is easy to become a journalist in Iran, but it is difficult to die a journalist (because newspapers are banned so often that no one can remain a journalist for very long). Ghouchani has been the editor-in-chief of several now-banned papers.
Read RSF’s list of jailed Iranian journalists and bloggers here
22 Jun 2009 | Middle East and North Africa, News and features
Index on Censorship calls for the release of renowned Canadian-Iranian journalist and filmmaker
(more…)
19 Jun 2009 | Uncategorized
Exclusive photographs of the week’s events in Tehran (click to enlarge)
19 Jun 2009 | Uncategorized
Although, in some ways, the street protests that followed the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president resemble the protests in 1978-79 that toppled the Shah, there is one very significant difference: the role of the Internet. Since many of the Iranian protestors are young and well-educated, they are finding it very easy to use the Internet to good advantage.
Notwithstanding the sad deaths, beatings and attacks on student dormitories that have occurred since the controversial election on 12 June, the battle between the protestors and the state on the Internet is more like an episode of Tom and Jerry than a life-and-death struggle. And Jerry, the mouse, seems to be very much smarter than Tom, the cat. When the Revolutionary Guard issued a statement warning Iranian bloggers not to post material that would be “harmful to security”, Iranian bloggers picked out the spelling mistakes in the statement and invited the Guards to try to “hack” offending sites, with the underlying assumption that the Revolutionary Guard wouldn’t be able to hack its way out of a paper bag.
The protestors are also using the Internet to warn each other about the dangers on the street. This post shows “mug shots” of two dozen “government plainclothes men who have beaten the people” and warns protestors to steer clear of them. This post (now removed) noted: “These motorcyles require special licences, if you don’t know who the killers are pay attention to their motorbikes.”
This blogger explains how to identify the different security forces by their uniforms. One blogger posted a photo (now deleted) showing security personnel smashing a car windshield, an act later blamed on “hooligans” (what state media calls the protestors). Another blogger warns protestors to switch off their phones if they are in an area that is being raided by security forces, because they can be identified as having been in the area if their mobile phones are switched on.
The Internet has also become a way of boosting morale. When six of Iran’s national football team members where seen to be wearing green wristbands (in support for Mir Hossein Mousavi) during a World Cup qualifier in South Korea, it caused great joy among bloggers, who expressed pride in the “brave lads” and said that they must give them a great welcome at Tehran airport when they returned home. They bloggers also noted that the green wristbands were off in the second half of the match and noted that “supreme leader decrees” were enforced as far away as South Korea.
Of course, there is also a great deal of rumour-mongering on the Internet, as well as warnings that some bits of information may be “plants” or “traps” by the authorities. But all in all, the protestors definitely have the edge in cyberspace.
The author is an Iranian, who wishes to remain anonymous
