Iran’s “green movement” will be reborn in small media, says Mahmood Enayat
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Iran has jailed award-winning journalist Jila Baniyaghoob for one year. Her alleged crime: writing “propaganda” against the Islamic regime (i.e. reporting on last year’s disputed election results and subsequent protests). The conditions for imprisoned journalists in Iran are rarely comfortable. But more dramatic than a prison sentence, is the other aspect of this brave woman’s punishment: she has been banned from writing for 30 years. The nature of the punishment reveals how threatened Iran is by her reporting. It looks like an attempt to break her. I suspect it will have the opposite effect.
Every state sets some limits on what can be said or written. But to silence an individual’s voice entirely is an attack on the very notion of free expression.
As well as campaigning for an immediate lift on this sentence and ban, let’s make sure that one side effect is that Jila Baniyaghoob’s writing is read by many more people than would otherwise have read it and that her bravery is celebrated. The severity and crudity of the Iranian gagging measures suggest she has something very important to say.
Here is an example of Baniyaghoob’ courage writing on imprisoned journalists
Film director Jafar Panahi has been released from Tehran’s Evin prison on a bail of $200,000 (£140,000) after more than two months in custody. Although it has been rumoured he was imprisoned for shooting a film about last June’s disputed presidential elections, it seems more likely his arrest was due to his support for opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Panahi, who was supposed to sit on the jury of the 2010 Cannes Festival, went on a hunger strike last week to protest the circumstances of his detention. Cannes jury head, US director Tim Burton, joined with Iranian independent filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami and other international filmmakers’ calls for Panahi’s release.
We are looking to recruit four regional experts with local contacts, expertise and language skills in Iran, China, Mexico and Egypt
To further extend our reach and impact, at home and abroad, Index on Censorship is launching a world-wide regional editors programme.
Four programmes each year for three years are planned in different priority regions for freedom of expression, each one led by regional experts with local contacts, expertise and language skills. These part-time positions are offered on a 12-month basis, with the intention that editors will continue to contribute to Index at the end of this period.
These roles are intended to be in-country however we may make exceptions in the cases of China and Iran.
The editors will play an essential role in Index’s plans for website expansion, bringing in a wider group of contributors and bloggers for the website. They will be talent scouts – advising us on emerging artists, musicians, free speech advocates, lawyers and writers directly engaging with challenging political issues or censorship.
The local editors’ role is to help the website – which is currently undergoing a redesign – to become the portal for discussing free speech in the UK and beyond, to develop new content and new audiences, to break free expression news and publish insightful analysis of censorship issues, to provide opinion, analysis, comment and reportage from sources all over the world and to promote content and share ideas through social media.
Editors will also be invited to contribute to Index’s quarterly award-winning magazine, suggest contributors, and help research and commission. They must have proven writing experience – ideally in journalism – and be able to contribute blogs and longer pieces to Index’s website at short notice.
The experts will closely coordinate with Index on Censorship’s London editorial desk, under the direction of editor Jo Glanville and online editor Emily Butselaar.
They will work to a discrete programme of activities in each region, to enhance and extend Index on Censorship’s publishing activities, advocacy initiatives and arts programming, including a special focus on free expression in the world of literature.
Their work will be incorporated into all areas of our organisation, creating a central resource for the magazine and through its programme of partnership activities, a resource in the literature sector by unearthing new writers, especially in translation, and leading them to publishing opportunities.
Applicants should have proven expertise in the field of free expression, earned through legal or advocacy experience or journalism and the arts.
If you are interested in applying for one of these positions please write to Emily Butselaar via Emily[at]indexoncensorship.org