When Hossein Derakhshan was arrested last month, the media was up in arms. Less than 48 hours after the first report, The Guardian, The New York Times, and the Washington Post had all picked up on the story, even though the arrest had not yet been confirmed. A web site, freehoder.com, details his story.
In the same week, Omidreza Mirsayafi was sentenced two years and six months in prison for the contents of his blog. The usual suspects covered the story: Global Voices Advocacy immediately issued a statement, then provided a followup piece detailing the arrests of other Iranian bloggers over the years. Reporters Without Borders documented Mirsayafi's arrest and subsequent trial. But the mainstream media? Crickets could be heard.
Of course, it's unsurprising that Hossein Derakhshan's case received so much attention; after all, he too was a journalist, and had ties to many of the same publications which called for his immediate release. But the attention given to him should not be denied other bloggers in the same circumstance. Thus, here is the story of Omidreza Mirsayafi.
According to Reporters Without Borders, he was arrested on April 22, then released 41 days later on 100 million toman (EU 72,000) bail. He then stood trial on November 22, and was charged under article 514 of the criminal code which, according to Amnesty International, "singles out 'insults' made against the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the first Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran," and article 500, which states that "propaganda against the state is punishable by three months to one year in prison."
Yet unlike Derakhshan, whose English and Farsi blogs were full of posts about the Iranian government, Mirsayafi's focused mainly on culture and traditional Persian music. He told Reporters Without Borders: "I am a cultural blogger, not a political one. Of all the entries I posted online, only two or three were satirical. I did not intend to insult anyone."
Why Mirsayafi? That question remains, and is likely to remain, unanswered. Iran has a large blogosphere (according to research from Internet & Democracy, nearly 60,000 active bloggers exist), and many of its bloggers write about religion and politics. Why one blogger might be singled out over another is a question that researchers have yet to discover.
One thing is certain: blogging, the last bastion for speaking one's mind in Iran, is becoming a dangerous prospect. Omidreza Mirsayafi was not the first to suffer for it, and will likely not be the last.
Follow Jillian York on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jilliancyork
but when groups that pretend to work for the BBC or bloggers financed by AMerica try to spy on iran , iran has every right to be suspicious .
why wont America be outraged that people are not allowed to demonstrate in Saudi arabia . the US media stays very quiet about the horrible discriminations on Saudi ALLY soil .
Long way? ZTalk about understatement.... It will be forever if Iranians don't throw off the yoke of the Ayatollahs.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/045/2001/en/dom-MDE130452001en.html
Let's see some more posts defending this regime.
"Cruel inhuman and degrading punishments" using dog poop, forced homosexual behavior, water boarding, attack dogs and......................... wait a minute Iran doesn't do this stuff does it?
'Impunity for state officials for human rights violations".............seriously dude, didn't you feel just a bit guilty or silly when you wrote that one?
"Laws relating to woman's rights". Constantly under attack in the US by Christian extremists, good thing we have Obama and his woman respecting pastor Rick Warren to defend them.
So herr Ludi, I am not defending Iran as their government commits many many crimes against the Iranian people. Just as our government does. I am attempting to point out the folly of any of us judging Iran taking our own behavior into contexty.
I know you support a war on Iran to help "save" their people. And you know that war did not save the Iraqi people nor the Afghani people. Why do you want a war with Iran?
I did NOT write this. This is a DIRECT cut and paste from Amnesty International website. The link is included. Try reading it.
2. At NO point in time did I support a war against Iran. Containment: yes; sanctions--yes; blockade--maybe.
3."am not defending Iran as their government commits many many crimes against the Iranian people"
Yes, you are. You're denigrating Amnesty International report and using the tiresome and trite "but... but Amerika."
4.. Yes, I do think that it is up to Progressive Iranians to save the country from the theocracy that oppresses them and prevents Iran from joining the world family of nations. You would too, if you your allegiances didn't prevent this.
Why don't you report on American torture chambers and prisons which are also reported by Amnesty? America should Clean up its own house and is not qualified to criticize others with such places as Abu Graib and Gitmo to its credit.
iran has every right to defend itself against enemis those who are trying to distabilize it
Iran has a long way to go before it can become a truly free society but under these circumstance of threats and sanctions, it has the right to prevent subversion.
Have you been to Iran? I have. Plenty of people, including in the parliament, in the marketplace, on buses, in the streets, criticize and verbally attack the government and its policies. No arrests!
Those bloggers who are arrested, face the court, and after investigation, are either freed or sentenced. American MSM does not report these just the anti-Iran reports which have absolutely no credibility.