TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian court sentenced the founder of one of the first Farsi-language blogs, credited with sparking the boom in Iranian reform bloggers, to more than 19 years in prison for his writings, a news web site reported Tuesday.
Iranian-Canadian Hossein Derakhshan, 35, was a controversial figure among Iran’s blogging community. Writing his blog from Canada, he was initially a critic of Iran’s clerical leadership, and in 2006 he visited Israel — Iran’s archenemy — saying he wanted to act as a bridge between the two countries’ peoples.
But he later became a vocal supporter of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, praising him for standing up to the West and criticizing regime opponents. Derakhshan then visited Iran in 2008 and was arrested. Over the next two years, he was often held without communication with family or lawyers, according to rights groups.
Paris-based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that “never has such a tough sentence been handed to a blogger in Iran.”
“This case, fabricated from start to finish, shows that part of the regime wants to make Hossein Derakhshan into an example.”
The group’s statement said Derakhshan was paying the price for “internal rivalries and struggles for influence inside the regime. We ask Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to intervene personally to free him as soon as possible.”
Mashreghnews.ir, which is close to Iran’s presidential office, reported on Tuesday that Derakhshan was convicted on charges of cooperation with hostile countries — a reference to the Israel visit — spreading propaganda against the ruling establishment, promotion of counterrevolutionary groups and insulting Islamic thought and religious figures.
The court sentenced him to 19 1/2 years in prison, the report said, adding that Derakhshan can appeal. It was unclear if he would benefit from time served.
Derakhshan helped ignite blogging in Iran by posting simple instructions online on how to create sites in Farsi in 2001. The flourishing of blogs by Iranians at home and abroad that resulted gave the country’s reform movement an online platform that has helped it survive heavy crackdowns at home — though authorities tried to block many, including Derakhshan’s.
His later embrace of Ahmadinejad angered many reform bloggers. Before returning to Iran, Derakhshan on his blog dismissed worries he could be arrested for his previous writings.
The Iranian government has stepped up its crackdown on opponents since Ahmadinejad’s 2009 re-election, which opponents say he won by fraud, a claim the president denies.
Authorities shut down two pro-reform newspapers — Andisheh-e No daily and Bahar Zanjan — for publishing articles in which they had insulted officials, another newspaper, Shargh, reported Tuesday. They were the latest in a string of newspapers to be banned since the election.
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B52Bomber294
Posted on September 30, 2010 at 12:37pmHey I got one for you guys….Agents at a warehouse in Dearborn were trying to arrest Luqman Ameen Abdullah, 53, on charges that included conspiracy to sell stolen goods and illegal possession and sale of firearms. Abdullah and 10 others were listed in a criminal complaint, but it was not immediately clear how many were in custody.
Report Post »He refused to surrender, fired a weapon and was killed by gunfire from agents, FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said. The FBI said Abdullah, also known as Christopher Thomas, was an imam, or prayer leader, of a radical group whose primary mission is to establish an Islamic state within the United States.
“He regularly preaches anti-government and anti-law enforcement rhetoric,” FBI agent Gary Leone said in an affidavit. “Abdullah and his followers have trained regularly in the use of firearms, and continue to train in martial arts and sword fighting.”
Leone said members of the national group mostly are black and some converted to Islam while in prisons across the United States.
“Abdullah preaches that every Muslim should have a weapon, and should not be scared to use their weapon when needed,” Leone wrote.
The group believes that a separate Islamic state in the U.S. would be controlled by Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rapp Brown, who is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Colorado for shooting two police officers in Georgia in 2000, Leone said.
Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Dearborn, said he was briefed by the FBI and told the raids were the result of a two-year investigation.”We know that this is not something to be projected as something against Muslims,” Hamad said. (LIKE HELL IT ISN’T)
An FBI dog was also killed during the shootout, the U.S. attorney’s office said. (Now, that IS sad) FOX NEWS
SilentReader
Posted on September 30, 2010 at 4:37amIn AhMADinejad’s totalitarian regime there is no freedom, let alone freedom of speech. I can’t imagine what will happen to this guy in prison.
Right now there is worldwide movement to boycott Israel, whereas nothing is being done about the Islamic totalitarian regimes. They are not being boycotted for their very real crimes against humanity. The corrupt UN and the global elites are responsible for this, I have no doubt.
We live in a world where there is no justice that is run by a bunch of thug-leaders.
Pray for America. Pray that this total insanity will end soon.
Report Post »Rocco1
Posted on September 29, 2010 at 2:24amYou can’t serve two Kings…this incident illustrates the true value of our Constitution…God save America!!
Report Post »RobertCA
Posted on September 29, 2010 at 2:09amI like to hear the comment of the people who invited AhmedNUTjob to speak @ the University of Columbia about this .
Report Post »BoilitDown
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 11:43pmI could swear I heard Ahmadinejad say Iran doesn’t do this sort of thing. Yeah…we all bought that.
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on September 29, 2010 at 2:15pmWell that proves they don’t after all, he said they don’t want nukes and hours later, Obama told the UN, now that it‘s been proven that Iran doesn’t want nukes we can be friends.
Report Post »sdparker
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 6:16pmIf certain people here in the U.S. could have it their way, construction jobs would flood the job market for new prisons.
Report Post »Mark S
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 5:39pm“…he later became a vocal supporter of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad…”
Report Post »Wonder if he still supports Ahmadinejad now?
ClockKing
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 7:11pmDeals with the Devil NEVER work out.
Report Post »CoFX
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 5:26pmGreat example of how appeasement accomplishes nothing.
Report Post »solaveritas
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 5:11pmWait a minute….this guy started out critical of the theocracy in Iran….and then changed to be a supporter of Mahmoud Imadoingjihad, the President, and STILL got arrested and prosecuted?
Well, “there is no honor among thieves”, and, thats what you get when you go over to the “darkside”!
Report Post »LBreath
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 5:07pmWe are not the world’s conscience. While I don’t agree with the Iranian form of totalitarian government, I also don’t believe it is my place to tell them how to live.
Report Post »veritas51322
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 4:54pmSomeone today told me how mean the tea party people were and had no idea of what took place on 8-28. This person was an educated Christian who is a very nice person but knew only what media had reported.
Report Post »Rocco1
Posted on September 29, 2010 at 2:20amOh..you spoke with my daughter-n-law did you??
Report Post »MrButcher
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 4:52pmlook out fox news! dear leader finds you “destructive to the future of the country.” —–are we in the twilight zone?
Report Post »jb1972
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 4:41pmThey can take our “speakers” but they cant take the microphone!
Report Post »jb1972
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 4:37pmWe should have him out before his sentence is finished!
Report Post »klstj
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 4:36pmIf the radicals in and influencing our government have their way…you’re right. They are already working on internet regulation and once its in place they will attempt to shut down oposition. Just like China, Iran, Venezuela, and so on. You’ll know its close when the national security/crisis is at hand. All they ate waiting for is the excuse.
Report Post »wingedwolf
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 4:30pmIf Mr. Obama and Cass Sunstein have their way.
Report Post »tankchaser
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 4:28pmPolitical prisoner for daring to use free speech, No totalitarian government allows free speech unless of course it’s speech they approve of. This should serve as a wake-up call for Americans, the way our fearless leaders are expanding power it won’t be long until they try to silence us.
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 4:25pmI see America’s future in this story…well if they don’t just shut down the net altogether that is…
Report Post »MistaB
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 4:22pmThe way things are going here, we might be next!!
Report Post »plunderpower
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 5:27pmNo kidding. Why are all political prisoners Freedom Loving People?
Report Post »everythinguknowiswrong
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 7:48pm“American scientific companies are cross-breeding humans and animals and coming up with mice with fully functioning human brains.” – Christine O‘Donnell on Fox News’s The O’Reilly Factor, 2007