Latest posts by Fred Petrossian
Iran: Leading reformist Abtahi on trial
Mohmmad Ali Abtahi, a leading blogger and former reformist vice president, was among dozens to protest the 12th June presidential election's result. A trial of the protestors is now underway in a Tehran court. In the court Abtahi, who appeared wearing prisoner's pyjamas, looked weak and seemed to have lost...
Iran: A leading blogger's trial begins
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a leading blogger and reformist politican, was arrested several weeks ago after the protest against the 12th of June presidential election erupted. Abtahi, is one of leading reformist politicians whose trial begins today in Tehran.
Iran:The head of Judiciary targets hostile websites
According to news sites “the head of Iran's judiciary called on Sunday for the prosecution of people working for increasingly influential anti-establishment satellite TV channels and websites.”
Iran: Myth and reality about Twitter
International media coverage of the Iranian protest movement in the past weeks has widely celebrated ‘Twitter power' as a tool of organizing and reporting on protests, but the reliance on Twitter has had both positive and negative results in this crisis. We look at some of them here to demystify the actual degree of impact.
Iran: Reformist and activist bloggers arrested
As protesters continue their demonstrations all over Iran against 12th June presidential election results, Iranian authorities have arrested hundreds of activists, including bloggers. Mohammad Ali Abtahi, former reformist vice president and an adviser to Mehdi Karoubi, a reformist candidate, was arrested last Tuesday. Abtahi used to update his blog each...
Iran: Tohidloo, a reformist blogger was arrested
Somayeh Tohidloo, a female reformist blogger was arrested. As protest against Iranian presidential election grows, Iranian authorities arrested several political activists. recently she and a couple of bloggers organized an internet interview with former president,Mohammad Khatami.
Iran: Abtahi, a leading blogger was arrested
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, cleric,former vice president and blogger, was arrested today. He participated in a protest movement against presidential election's results yesterday.
Iran: Fararu site and Twitter are accessible again
Iranian news sites reported that Twitter and Iranian Fararu news site are accessible again.
Iran: FaceBook is accessible again
Iranian news sites and blogs report that FaceBook is not anymore filtered in Iran. Senoghteh says [fa] that national and international protest forced Iranian government to make FaceBook available again.
Iran: Face Book and Twitter got Filtered
Several Iranian sites and blogs such as demokracy reported that Face Book and Twitter got filtered in Iran.Ghomar,says President Ahmadinejad wants to beat his rivals in the presidential election and they are much more present than him in the world of internet including Face Book.
Iran based Fararu site was filtered
Iran based Fararu news site announced [fa] today that Iranian authorities have filtered the site. Fararu's managers got no information about the reason (s) of filtering.
Iran: Ahmadinejad says jailed blogger must have right of defense
According to[fa] the Iranian media President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Hossein Derakhshan, an Iranian jailed blogger and Roxana Saberi, an American-Iranian journalist who was sentenced to 8 years of prison, must have right of defense
Iran: A Christian Blogger arrested
According to several sources an Iranian Christian blogger was arrested in the city of Isfahan in Iran about one month ago. He is a convert from Islam and he used to write about Bible in his blog.
Iran: A blogger freed on bail
According to Reporters Without Borders and Committee to Protect Bloggers, Esmail Jafari,a journalist and blogger based in the southwestern city of Bushehr was released from Bushehr prison on 18 March.Read more here.
Iran: Freegate is accessible again
In Donableh we read that Freegate,a software utility that enables surfers from mainland China, Iran, among others, to view websites banned by their government, is once more available for Iranians.
Planning International Day of Solidarity with Persecuted Bloggers
What:Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, an Iranian blogger, died tragically in prison on March 18, demonstrating the sad fact that a blogger’s life can be lost as easily as a blog can be filtered by authorities. Bloggers have been praised on many occasions for their contribution and value to the information...
Iran: When the Internet is Viewed through a Filter
When it comes to filtering the internet, Iranian authorities target many political and social blogs and websites, depriving many from receiving information and expressing their ideas. However, the government does not have well-defined red lines, and it changes its filtering policies often. In this post we discuss several issues related to filtering and clarify some common misunderstandings.
Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, Iranian blogger Dies in Prison
Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, a 29-year old Iranian blogger and journalist died in Evin Prison in Tehran on March 18. In December, he was sentenced to two and half years in prison for allegedly insulting religious leaders, and engaging in propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mir Sayafi was...
Iran: A Long and Painful Story of Jailed Bloggers
Iranian blogger and journalist, Omid Reza Mirsyafi, was sentenced [fa]to two and a half years of prison this week. He stands accused of insulting religious leaders, and engaging in propaganda against the Islamic Republic. Over the past 5 years, several bloggers in Iran have faced jail and persecution because ...
Iran: Blogger sentenced to prison
Several Iranian news sites such as Amir Kabir [fa], a student site, reported Omid Reza MirSyafi, Iranian blogger and journalist, was sentenced to 36 months prison. He was accused of insulting Iranian religious leaders and doing propaganda against Islamic Republic.
