A message to Iranian students

Click to read: Persian Awakening: Using Collective Nonviolence for Achieving Reform in 2009 Post-election Iran

Iranian government shuts down opposition newspaper

The main opposition newspaper in Iran, Etemad-e-Melli, was shut down by the government for publishing what authorities refer to as “illegal” and “criminal” content.  The newspaper editor-in-chief is former presidential candidate and clerical reformist Mehdi Karrubí. To read the rest of the story click here.

Zimbabwe bans political rallies

Source: BBC News

Zimbabwean police have banned political rallies “with immediate effect”, amid growing tension over the country’s disputed presidential election. (Continue Reading)

Journalist under sentence of death in Mazar-i-Sharif is “in constant danger,” says brother

Source: Reporters without Borders

Afghan journalist Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi gave a news conference today at Reporters Without Borders headquarters in Paris about the plight of his brother, Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, a fellow journalist who is under sentence of death in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan.

Celebrate the first Online Free Expression Day!

Source: Reporters without Borders

Reporters Without Borders will launch the first International Online Free Expression Day under UNESCO’s patronage on 12 March, when it will also organise its second “24-hour online demo against Internet censorship,” urging Internet users to come and demonstrate on its website, www.rsf.org.

The story of Abed Tavancheh

Source: Reporters Without Borders

Blogger Abed Tavancheh released on bail
Reporters Without Borders welcomes the release on bail, on 11 July 2006, of blogger Abed Tavancheh. Bail was set at 50 millions tomans (about 50,000 euros). He is due to go on trial shortly, but the date of the hearing has yet to be fixed. The blogger was arrested on 26 May at Teheran University where he is a student, during demonstrations which led to clashes between young democrats and the Basij militia – students who are controlled by the authorities.

Montreal journalism student held in Iran freed

© 2008 Agence France-Presse

Source: AFP

An Iranian-French journalism student who had been prevented from leaving Iran for nearly a year was en route to Paris on Friday, the French foreign ministry said.