Doctor and blogger Mehdi Khazali has been arrested in Tehran, charged with “acting against national security and disturbing public opinion”. His website is openly critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and he has controversially claimed that the president has Jewish roots. In 2008, he was disqualified from standing in parliamentary elections and spent 23 days in solitary confinement last year following the post-election crackdown. His father is a prominent conservative cleric and member of the influential Assembly of Experts, who has disavowed his son’s actions.
NEWS
Iran: Opposition blogger arrested
Doctor and blogger Mehdi Khazali has been arrested in Tehran, charged with “acting against national security and disturbing public opinion”. His website is openly critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and he has controversially claimed that the president has Jewish roots. In 2008, he was disqualified from standing in parliamentary elections and spent 23 days in solitary […]
19 Oct 10
READ MORE
-
UN working group on arbitrary detention declares that Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi’s detention violated international law
A joint statement by the International Counsel Team at Doughty Street Chambers, Index on Censorship and Human Rights Foundation
-
Iran’s silenced musicians
As the list of those persecuted in the country grows, it is obvious that Iran’s leadership is systemically opposed to musical free expression
-
The existential threat to international aid and consular assistance
With the UK modelling the USA's approach to aid cuts, independent journalism and political prisoners could be in a perilous position
-
Index pays tribute to Israeli journalist and human rights activist Oded Lifshitz
Lifshitz, who was killed after he was taken hostage during the 7 October massacre, was an ardent campaigner for Palestinian rights