PhotoDude.com

Tue. Feb 22, 2005

Free Mojtaba and Arash

While you and I whine about our woe-of-the-moment, in other parts of the world…

Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad are both currently in prison in Iran.

Mr Sigarchi has been in detention since 17 January while Mr Saminejad was first detained in November.

Iranian-born Hadi Ghaemi is following both cases for Human Rights Watch in New York.

“Major charges against Sigarchi included him giving interview to foreign radio, which is completely a violation of his right to free speech and expression,” Mr Ghaemi says.

“He’s being kept in a prison in the city of Rasht, which is his hometown in northern Iran. Bail for his release has been set at $200,000.”

Mojtaba Saminejad has not fared much better, according to Mr Ghaemi.

“Saminejad was kept in solitary confinement for 88 days, and he was subjected to severe beatings and torture. He was briefly released on 27 January for a short time, but because bail had been set at $125,000, and he wasn’t able to pay that, he was rearrested, and his conditions are unknown.”

BBC: “The price paid for blogging Iran”

Why are these two men suffering imprisonment, solitary confinement, and torture? For exactly what I’m doing tight now … blogging.

Last week, my Dad asked me “have you see that article about bloggers getting fired…” and I interrupted him … “for being stupid? Yeah, I know all about that.” I mostly subscribe to Anil’s view, that no one has ever really been fired for blogging: “Take a person’s words, and guess what would happen if you took the exact same words or ideas and sent them to the public via letter to the editor, streetcorner soapbox, or pony express. Would they still get you canned? Then you weren’t fired for blogging.” (and note the contrast; look for a new job, versus look at the walls of a 6×8 jail cell)

In that regard, I suppose maybe Mojtaba and Arash weren’t really imprisoned for blogging (the Iranian government sure won’t say that’s why). They were imprisoned for exercising free speech, using a medium the mullahs don’t control. But they’re trying.

Mr Sigarchi and Mr Saminejad are only the latest cases in a wave of arrests that has meant jail for at least two dozen Iranian bloggers.

It is part and parcel of a broader crackdown on Iranian media that began in 2000.

When regular print outlets were censored, many Iranians turned to weblogging. In fact, weblogs have become a key form of communication in Iran.

It is estimated that there are some 46,000 bloggers in the country.

46,000 bloggers. Young, free spirited, and modern minded. A rapidly spreading virus the mullahs cannot abide. So they’ve tried to make a couple dozen examples, in hopes of silencing tens of thousands.

It’s a forlorn hope, as futile as the record company drive to eliminate MP3’s, but it’s a forlorn hope that must be fully stomped flat. Iran is in the midst of blustering and lobbying over its nuclear ambitions. It must be made to know it can’t torture those engaging in free speech on the Internet while simultaneously demanding concessions on other fronts.

Our President made big noise in January about holding countries to harder standards when it comes to freedom and democracy. It’s time for more than words. And the European officials who’ve undertaken the diplomacy route with Iran …. need to now slam the door on their fingers.

It needs to be said: Free Mojtaba and Arash and those like them, give your people the freedom to speak, and only then will we talk about how you might give them more electricity.

Much more can be found at The Committee to Protect Bloggers.