Free Sina Motallebi, Iranian Journalist
XM | 05.05.2003 21:28
Sina is still in prison after his arrest on 20 April. The authorities have given no indication of what he is accused of or whether he will be released soon, creating an atmosphere of fear and worry among Iran's estimated 10,000 other bloggers.
Blogging is important in Iran. It provides a way for people to write freely about a wide range of topics, relatively anonymously.
Sina's Persian website, www.rooznegar.com, has been taken offline by his family, worried that criticism of the Iranian Government posted there by supporters will harm his case.
An online petition organised by another Iranian blogger, Pedram Moallemian, has attracted over 2,000 e-signatures calling on human rights organisations to press for Sina's release.
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Sina Motallebi, Iranian journalist, writer and the blogger behind www.rooznegar.com was summoned by the Iranian authorities and subsequently arrested on ambiguous charges on the eve of his 30th birthday. These charges include the content of his web log, as well as interviews with foreign press and his other writings.
Sina’s wife Farnaz posted the news of his arrest on his blog on April 19th, but the posting was later removed. He had already published the content of his summons the day before.
This is the latest on a series of attacks on freedom of speech by the government of Iran. Reporters without Borders recently called Iran, "the biggest jail for journalists in the Middle East". The group also named Iranian leader Ali Khamenei on its list of "Predators of Press Freedom". The list also included China’s Jiang Zemin, Syrian president Bashar el-Assad, Ariel Sharon of Israel and the recently deposed Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Khamenei was also chosen as an "Enemy of the Press" by Committee to Protect Journalists last year.
The undersigned call for all international human rights advocacy organizations, as well as groups active in support of journalists and media to protest the arrest of Sina Motallebi and demand an immediate halt to any future harassment of journalists by the Iranian government.
We consider Sina Motallebi a prisoner of conscience and demand his immediate release. Furthermore, we urge all other freedom loving citizens around the globe to join us by signing this petition and writing to the following authorities on this very urgent and critical matter.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-2/hi/technology/2992587.stm
Sina's Persian website, www.rooznegar.com, has been taken offline by his family, worried that criticism of the Iranian Government posted there by supporters will harm his case.
An online petition organised by another Iranian blogger, Pedram Moallemian, has attracted over 2,000 e-signatures calling on human rights organisations to press for Sina's release.
..............................................
Sina Motallebi, Iranian journalist, writer and the blogger behind www.rooznegar.com was summoned by the Iranian authorities and subsequently arrested on ambiguous charges on the eve of his 30th birthday. These charges include the content of his web log, as well as interviews with foreign press and his other writings.
Sina’s wife Farnaz posted the news of his arrest on his blog on April 19th, but the posting was later removed. He had already published the content of his summons the day before.
This is the latest on a series of attacks on freedom of speech by the government of Iran. Reporters without Borders recently called Iran, "the biggest jail for journalists in the Middle East". The group also named Iranian leader Ali Khamenei on its list of "Predators of Press Freedom". The list also included China’s Jiang Zemin, Syrian president Bashar el-Assad, Ariel Sharon of Israel and the recently deposed Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Khamenei was also chosen as an "Enemy of the Press" by Committee to Protect Journalists last year.
The undersigned call for all international human rights advocacy organizations, as well as groups active in support of journalists and media to protest the arrest of Sina Motallebi and demand an immediate halt to any future harassment of journalists by the Iranian government.
We consider Sina Motallebi a prisoner of conscience and demand his immediate release. Furthermore, we urge all other freedom loving citizens around the globe to join us by signing this petition and writing to the following authorities on this very urgent and critical matter.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-2/hi/technology/2992587.stm
XM
Homepage:
http://www.petitiononline.com/sina/