<nettime> Iran: fiive webloggers jailed

[geert <geert@xs4all.nl>]

From: RSF.Internet <internet@rsf.org>

IRAN

Five webloggers jailed

Reporters Without Borders has strongly protested against the Iran's
relentless efforts to stifle free expression online after the arrest of
five webloggers in less than two months, the latest on 28 November 2004.

"The government is now attacking blogs, the last bastion of freedom on a
network that is experiencing ever tighter control," said the worldwide
press freedom organisation. "At the same time, an Iranian delegate is
sitting on a UN-created working group on Internet governance. The
international community should condemn this masquerade," it added.

Three webloggers identified only by their first names were arrested on
29 October 2004. They were: Dariush (http://www.dariushkabir.com), Omid
(http://www.shurideh.com) and Payvand (http://gayaneh.net).

Mojtaba Saminejad was arrested at the beginning of November for speaking
out against the arrest of his three colleagues in his blog
(http://man-namanam.blogspot.com).

Farid Modaressi, a member of the student organisation the Office to
Consolidate Unity, was arrested on 28 November on the order of the
prosecutor's office in the city of Qom. He had posted a number of
articles on his weblog (http://farid.blogset.com) exposing persistent
harassment in the city by members of the reformist movement. Two of his
brothers were reportedly arrested two days earlier and are apparently
still being held.

The crackdown also continues against news websites. Hamed Motaghi,
editor of Naqshineh.com, a webzine in Qom, was sentenced on appeal on 18
November to a three-month suspended prison term for "publishing false
information with the aim of disrupting public order". His site has been
inaccessible in Iran since March 2004.

Five cyberjournalists - Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, Fershteh Ghazi, Javad
Gholam Tamayomi, Omid Memarian et Shahram Rafihzadeh - are still
imprisoned for contributing to reformist websites.

For more information go to: www.internet.rsf.org



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