Iranian Journalist awarded UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize

Today 3 May is World Press Freedom Day - a day set aside by the United Nations to highlight the importance of press freedom and the right to free expression worldwide. All around the world on this day, journalists and individuals who work to inform the public, sometimes at great personal risk, are honored. It's in this spirit that today, UNESCO honors Ahmad Zeidabadi, an imprisoned Iranian journalist, with the UNESCO/Guillermo Carno World Press Freedom Prize.

According to UNESCO, a United Nations agency dedicated to build peace, eradicate poverty, promote sustainable development and dialogue, Ahmad was arrested and imprisoned following the controversial presidential elections held in Iran on 12 June 2009 and charged with plotting to overthrow the regime. He was sentenced to six years in prison and among other things, banned from practicing journalism.

On 10 December 2009, Amnesty International published a detailed 79-page report about repression and human rights violations in Iran during the disputed 2009 elections. The report titled Election Contested, Repression Compounded, documents widespread torture, killings and arbitrary arrests, including the arrest, detention and torture of Ahmad Zeidabadi.

Amnesty International reports that prior to and after the 2009 elections, the Iranian Government heavy-handedly stifled press freedom and free expression. Newspapers were shutdown and some web sites, including Facebook and Twitter, were blocked.

It is worthy to note that Ahmed is only one of the many journalists arrested in violation of press freedom during the 2009 crackdown. Other journalists arrested at the time include the following:

• Lason Athanasiades
• Masia Bahari
• Saeed Laylaz
• Bahman Ahmadi Amouie
• Zhila Bani Yaghoub
• Fariba Pajouh
• Hengameh Shahidi
• Hassan Sheikh Aghaei
• Ahmad Bahari.

The list is inexhaustive.

Following the arrest of Ahmed Zeidabadi, he was reportedly held in solitary confinement for 35 days in a "confin-like cell only 1.5m long."

Today UNESCO has awarded Ahmed the 2011 UNESCO/Guillermo World Press Freedom Prize for his courage and commitment to uphold press freedom in Iran.

As of 3 May 2011, Ahmed Zeidabadi is still imprisoned. UNESCO has urged the Iranian authorities to release the journalist.

Here's a statement by Ahmed Zeidabadi to the Director General of UNESCO and members of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize jury on the occasion of the award.

You're encouraged to read the aforementioned Amnesty International report: Election Contested, Repression Compounded (in PDF). It exposes (on page 44) torture, ill-treatment and other abuses endured by the 2011 UNESCO/Guillermo Press Freedom Award laureate and many journalists, opposition supporters and other civilians in Iran in 2009.

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Iran: Reverse harsh sentence imposed on film director Jafar Panahi

Jafar Pinahi and the Berlin Silver Bear Award, 2006.

On 24 January 2010, I received an email from Amnesty International USA shining light on a harsh sentence imposed on Jafar Panahi, an award-winning Iranian film director. He was arrested and recently imprisoned in Iran and banned from making movies - in violation of his right to freedom of expression through film-making.

According to Amnesty International USA, Jafar Panahi was accused of making an anti-government film without permission and inciting opposition. In December 2010, he was convicted of "Propaganda" against the state and sentenced to 6 years behind bars by Iran's Revolutionary Court. Besides this conviction, Jafar is banned from making movies for 20 years, and forbidden from writing scripts, traveling abroad, speaking with the press and from expressing political descent.

It is worth mentioning that Jafar Panahi is known for writing and directing films that expose the oppression of women in Iran. One of his compelling films titled "OFFSIDE" captures the story of women officially banned from men's sporting events, including football (soccer) in Iran. WATCH the trailer:



As a proponent of fundamental freedoms and human rights - including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights - I view this imprisonment and limitations slammed on Jafar as an attack on freedom of expression and the movie industry, as well as an attempt to silence critics of oppression in Iran. Those who value freedom of expression and film-making are encouraged to take action now to reverse this harsh sentence and outrageous conditions imposed on film director Jafar Panahi.

Jafar Panahi's artistic collaborator, Mohammad Rasoulof was also sentenced to 6 years imprisonment.

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Hossein Derakhshan: Blogger jailed in Iran

Hossein Derakhshan. Source: Daniel Lubetzky's Journal.

The sentencing of an acclaimed blogger, Hossein Derakhshan, is yet another reminder of the dwindling right to freedom of expression, thought, conscience and the right to hold opinions in Iran.

Hossein Derakhshan, 35, is a prominent Iranian-Canadian blogger, who is credited with pioneering blogging in Iran. "The Blogfather" as he is fondly called, was arrested 2008, detained for almost 2 years and sentenced to 19.5 years in jail on 28 September 2010 by Iran's Revolutionary Court.

What's his crime?

In 2006, Hossein Derakhshan made a controversial visit to Israel in an attempt to "humanize Israel for Iranians." While in Israel, he sought to show thousands of Iranians who read his blog what life is like in Israel. He explained his trip to Israel in the following words:

"This might mean that I won't be able to go back to Iran for a long time, since Iran doesn't recognize Israel, has no diplomatic relations with it, and apparently considers traveling there illegal. Too bad, but I don't care. Fortunately, I'm a citizen of Canada and I have the right to visit any country I want. I'm going to Israel as a citizen journalist and a peace activist. As a citizen journalist, I'm going to show my 20,000 daily Iranian readers what Israel really looks like and how people live there. The Islamic Republic has long portrayed Israel as an evil state, with a consensual political agenda of killing every single man and woman who prays to Allah, including Iranians. I'm going to challenge that image. As a peace activist, I'm going to show the Israelis that the vast majority of Iranians do not identify with Ahmadinejad's rhetoric, despite what it looks like from the outside. I'm going to tell them how any kind of violent action against Iran would only harm the young people who are gradually reforming the system and how the radicals would benefit from such situation."

Hossein Derakhshan's visit to Israel was highly publicized and it arguably didn't sit well with Iranian authorities. It is against this background that in November 2008, he was arrested in Tehran on accusation of spying for Israel.

Amnesty International notes that Hossein Derakhshan was convicted for:

• "Cooperating with hostile states" 
• "Propaganda against the system" 
• "Propaganda in favor of counter revolutionary groups" 
• "Insults to the holy sanctities", and...
• "the setup and management of vulgar and obscene websites."

 The questionable circumstances surrounding the arrest, detention and conviction of Hossein Derakhshan cannot be overlooked. Everyone has the right to freely express views and opinions without State interference. But as stated by the Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme, Iranian authorities are good at bringing "vaguely worded charges... against those who peacefully express dissent."

In a related story, the fate of 43-year-old Iranian mother of 2, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani - sentenced to death by stoning remains unknown.

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Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani: Sentence to Death by Stoning in Iran

You would agree that the Islamic Republic of Iran is famous for all the wrong reasons - a controversial uranium enrichment programme, and, of course, grave human rights violations. Human rights activists worldwide have once again taken the government of Iran to task, over the story of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani - an Iranian mother of two, who was sentenced to death by stoning in Iran, and is in imminent danger of execution. What is her crime?

In 2006, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted for adultery, and in line with the Iranian Penal Code, she was sentenced to death by stoning - the legal punishment for adultery in Iran.

Recently human rights activists and groups raised concerns that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani would be stoned to death in Iran. This warning sparked an international campaign to pressure the government of Iran to refrain from stoning Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, and to put an end to this cruel and "medieval form of punishment" in Iran.

Have you ever imagined how the many victims of death by stoning in Iran are executed?

Chapter 4 of the Islamic Penal Code of Iran pertaining to adultery clearly spells out How To Execute the Punishment. Article 102 states that an adulterer man shall be buried up to his waist, and a woman shall be buried up to her chest and then stoned to death. Article 104 even specifies the size of the stones to be used - the stones shall not be too large to kill the convict immediately and shall not be too small...

It goes without saying that at any moment, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, could face this ordeal.

According to Amnesty International, there have been 126 executions in Iran already this year. Unfortunately, many victims of this cruel form of punishment in Iran have not had a fair share of media coverage because it is done behind closed doors. However, a global outcry and condemnation of the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani could bring pressure to bear on the Iranian regime to abolish stoning as the legal punishment for adultery in Iran, and save the mother of two.

Mina Ahadi, head of the Internatioanl Committee Against Stoning and the Death Penalty, told CNN that international pressure from groups like Amnesty International, governments and individuals of conscience worldwide is the only way to save Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani from being stoned to death in Iran. In her words, "it's a done deal. Sakineh can be stoned at any minute. That is why we have decided to start a very broad, international public movement. Only that can help."

Ahadi was right. The regime in Tehran has apparently bowed to international pressure and criticism. The consequence of a week long campaign to save Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtian from death by stoning is there for everyone to see.

The 43-year-old Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani will not be executed by stoning. However, it remains to be seen whether she would be cleared of the death sentence for adultery.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has been imprisoned for 5 years, and her two children have pleaded for her life to be spared. Is this too much to ask?

Should people be sentenced to death, worst of all - death by stoning, for adultery?

Amnesty International has called on the authorities in Iran to end execution by stoning, and urged Iran not to execute Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani by any other method.

You can take action, here to stop the execution of Sakineh Mohammadi and another Iranian woman called Zeynab Jalalian, 27, arrested in 2007 for "emnity against God."

*Photo: Facebook group - Save Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani from being Stoned to Death in Iran, and Amnesty International.

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