Words of a Detained Blogger.

Omidreza Mirsayafi was a 28 year old blogger who we have talked about a couple times before in our blog; but recently Reporters Without Borders posted his last letter sent to the organization. Mirsayafi was a freelance journalist who had started blogging around the same time he started work; “The blog was intended above all to be artistic and cultural, but it sometimes included satirical entries”.
Mirsayafi goes on to explain how on the 22nd of April, the Tehran revolutionary court prosecutor's office arrested him, seized his belongings, computer, papers, and other documents and placed him in Evin prison without giving reason or detail to his arrest. The next day they charged him with activities against the country’s security because of what he posted on his blog. “While held in Evin prison, I was interrogated 20 times about these charges without being able to talk to a lawyer”, Mirsayafi writes. They had him repeat his confession on video, so if authorities deem it necessary they could air his confession on national television. He explains after 41 days of being held he could now post bail which was $100,000.
Mohammad-Ali Dadkhah (Mirsayafi’s lawyer) was not informed of the verdict before Mirsayafi’s case was sent to sentencing. Mirsayafi’s lawyer had 21 days to appeal the verdict but because he never received it he was unable to do so. He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison…and ultimately his life.
“Mr. Dadkhah told me that, in his view, the court had deliberately refrained from notifying him of the verdict because of the likelihood that it would be revised on appeal and that the court was therefore trying to have the sentence implemented as quickly as possible. That is my story.”. Those were the last words written by Omidreza Mirsayafi to the organization.
Reporters without boarders called for an independent probe in to the arrest and death of Omidreza Mirsayafi. After his death his body was hastily incinerated, after his death it was then brought up that he was “depressive and suicidal”.
Craig Walker
Iran

Iran: ATTACK OF THE SHOE!!!

On December 14, 2008, while attending a news conference in Baghdad, Muntazer al-Zaidi (Iraqi television journalist Muntadar) took off both of his shoes and launched them at US President George W. Bush. In Muslim eyes the throwing of a shoe is considered a deadly insult. Al-Zaidi was sentenced to three years in prison for his acts, but viewed as a hero throughout the Middle East.
This triggered a shoe throwing epidemic all over the world…including most recently Iran. The Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had a shoe hurled at him March 9, 2009 as he drove through the city of Urumiye in an open topped vehicle. The story never made media headlines; presumably because the individual who threw the shoe was never caught. The story did find its way out on the Iranian blogosphere. The blogs also reported a hat was thrown at the president also before the vehicle was able to pull off.
Many “pro-Ahmadinejad” bloggers reported that it was all just a “rumor spread by monarchists and anti-revolutionaries”, common terms for members of Iranian opposition.
It is funny this should happen in Iran, for after Zaidi threw his shoes at Bush in Baghdad, the Iranian officials held a public shoe throwing competition where people had the chance to throw apparel at posters and caricatures of George W. Bush.

Craig Walker(Iran)

Still No Freedom Of Speech On Internet

This post from popular technology-news blog Cnet.com is an interesting look at the state of free press on the Internet around the world. The article provides interesting insight on several of the countries we are studying in class, including Burma and Iran. It takes its information from the newest Reporters Without Borders report on "Internet Enemies".

Iran, unsurprisingly, has the worst record for Internet repression, thanks in part to the government's constant jailing of freelance journalists and bloggers, as well as constant attempts to shut down websites critical of the Ahmadinejad government. "Esmail Jafari, who edits the blog Rah Mardom, was sentenced to five months in prison last December for posting information about a demonstration in front of the equivalent of city hall in the southwestern Iranian city of Busheh," the article says.

Even Austrailia comes under fire for attempting to impose censorship laws on Austrailian Internet service providers.

-Ryan Simmons (Iran)

Russia- Perception of Leaders- Home and Abroad

--This article found on the AFP's website entitled "For Russia's Putin, knockabout with Obama is just the ticket" tackles the question of how the world media portrays Putin and also how Russia portrays Obama as the new president elect to the United States.
--The fact that Russian bloggers are talking about the election of Obama is interesting because it shows how our president affects the media in a worldwide perspective. If these bloggers are accrediting Obama to the "decline" of America, it is difficult to understand how much diversity of opinion and information is being delivered to the Russian people regarding the American election. The question arises again of how much the media is being censored in Russia regarding foreign affairs and everything else.
--Putin also is extremely careful of how he is perceived in the media which could help explain why so journalists who speak out specifically against Putin and his administration tend to be silenced in various ways. He wants to remain seemingly powerful in the media. The fact that a publicity stunt was planted where he "saves" a group of journalists from a tiger shows that he must care and understand how the world perceives him as treating the media.

This is the example of how the media portrayed Putin after the tiger stunt:


A hero?
Silly, huh?


Post by: Alexa Sell