21 Apr 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
Two political parties were suspended, a newspaper banned and three political figures sentenced to prison by the Iranian authorities on Monday. According to the official IRNA news agency, the Mujahedeen of the Islamic Revolution, the reformist group supporting Mr Hussein Moussavi, and the Islamic Iran Participation Front, a reformist political Iranian organ, have been suspended until their political status can be clarified. The reformist newspaper Bahar, formed just three months ago, has been banned. It was accused of spreading misinformation about last June’s elections and Iran’s Islamic system of government. Fars News reports that three politicians, Mostafa Tajzadeh, Davood Soleimani and Mohsen Mirdamadi, have been sentenced to six years in prison and a 10-year ban on all political or media activities.
20 Apr 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
The anti-internet filtering software, Haystack, received the necessary export license from the US government last week to sell their product to Iran in an effort to help Iranian citizens gain free speech. Inspired by the internet restrictions during the June 2009 elections, the software uses mathematical formulas to mask users’ identities and to allow them to access and post items on government blocked websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and YouTube. Haystack was created by the non-profit Censorship Research Center in San Francisco, and according to the company’s executive director, Austin Heap, the only way to disable the software is by disabling the entire internet.
08 Apr 10 | Uncategorized
Richard Gizbert of Al Jazeera’s Listening Post interviewed Maziar Bahari at the Index on Censorship Free Expression Awards. Watch it below.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uwBC03qZbc
06 Apr 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
CPJ’s latest monthly census reveals that as of April 1, about 35 journalists were imprisoned as a result of the Iranian government’s post-election media crackdown. Although 18 more journalists were temporarily released for the Iranian New Year they are expected to be returned to prison soon. Iran currently has the most incarcerated journalists in the world. To sign a petition to help release the journalists in Iran, click here.
