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| Iranian journalist launches project highlighting persecution of colleagues | Iranian journalist launches project highlighting persecution of colleagues |
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| Most fathers do not have to escape the clutches of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to be present at the birth of their first child. Arrested, tortured and imprisoned for months in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, Maziar Bahari arrived home in London just two days before the birth of his daughter, Marianna, after a 118-day incarceration that saw Hillary Clinton campaign for his release. | Most fathers do not have to escape the clutches of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to be present at the birth of their first child. Arrested, tortured and imprisoned for months in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, Maziar Bahari arrived home in London just two days before the birth of his daughter, Marianna, after a 118-day incarceration that saw Hillary Clinton campaign for his release. |
| Bahari’s story has since become the subject of the feature film Rosewater, American comedian Jon Stewart’s directorial debut, in which Gael García Bernal reenacts the events of June 2009. | |
| Excruciatingly thrilling as Bahari’s story may be, it is certainly not unique. Jason Rezaian, a journalist for the Washington Post, is facing trial in an Iranian revolutionary court for charges including espionage and “spreading propaganda against the regime”. His case is being heard by Abolghassem Salavati, known as the “judge of death” for his notoriously severe punishments. Rezaian could face 20 years in prison if convicted. | Excruciatingly thrilling as Bahari’s story may be, it is certainly not unique. Jason Rezaian, a journalist for the Washington Post, is facing trial in an Iranian revolutionary court for charges including espionage and “spreading propaganda against the regime”. His case is being heard by Abolghassem Salavati, known as the “judge of death” for his notoriously severe punishments. Rezaian could face 20 years in prison if convicted. |
| Related: US journalist Jason Rezaian charged with espionage in Iran | Related: US journalist Jason Rezaian charged with espionage in Iran |
| Rezaian is among hundreds of journalists, bloggers and social media activists that are intimidated, imprisoned and tortured by the Iranian intelligence services, and Bahari is using his freedom to fight back. | Rezaian is among hundreds of journalists, bloggers and social media activists that are intimidated, imprisoned and tortured by the Iranian intelligence services, and Bahari is using his freedom to fight back. |
| In an effort to hold Iran’s government to account for persecuting journalists, he has launched Journalism is not a Crime, an initiative that aims to document the history of human rights abuses against journalists since the modern Iranian state was created in 1905. The advocacy group also provides legal and psychological assistance to journalists targeted by the state. | In an effort to hold Iran’s government to account for persecuting journalists, he has launched Journalism is not a Crime, an initiative that aims to document the history of human rights abuses against journalists since the modern Iranian state was created in 1905. The advocacy group also provides legal and psychological assistance to journalists targeted by the state. |
| “I wish I could have done it five years ago when I came out of prison,” Bahari said. “I wish I could have started it a long time ago, but these things need money, a team.” | “I wish I could have done it five years ago when I came out of prison,” Bahari said. “I wish I could have started it a long time ago, but these things need money, a team.” |
| Processing the agony of solitary confinement and blindfold beatings was made easier by the therapy and legal support he received after his return to London, but the award-winning journalist knows this is a luxury rarely afforded to the hundreds of persecuted journalists in Iran. | Processing the agony of solitary confinement and blindfold beatings was made easier by the therapy and legal support he received after his return to London, but the award-winning journalist knows this is a luxury rarely afforded to the hundreds of persecuted journalists in Iran. |
| Since its launch less than a week ago, Journalism is Not a Crime’s Persian-speaking support team has assisted about 20 people, adding many names to its database of persecuted journalists and bloggers. | Since its launch less than a week ago, Journalism is Not a Crime’s Persian-speaking support team has assisted about 20 people, adding many names to its database of persecuted journalists and bloggers. |
| “We are finding more people in remote areas of Iran who have been arrested since 2009. At least a quarter of the people we have listed on the site, people did not know about,” Bahari said. | “We are finding more people in remote areas of Iran who have been arrested since 2009. At least a quarter of the people we have listed on the site, people did not know about,” Bahari said. |
| Related: The Guardian view on detained journalists in Iran: speak out, President Rouhani | Editorial | Related: The Guardian view on detained journalists in Iran: speak out, President Rouhani | Editorial |
| He has formed a close relationship with Jon Stewart, the former Daily Show host, since they met when Bahari covered the controversial 2009 Iranian general elections. Bahari’s part in a sketch for the hit show was later used by Iran as proof that he was spying for the CIA, Mossad and MI6, a charge he was subsequently forced to admit on Iranian television. | He has formed a close relationship with Jon Stewart, the former Daily Show host, since they met when Bahari covered the controversial 2009 Iranian general elections. Bahari’s part in a sketch for the hit show was later used by Iran as proof that he was spying for the CIA, Mossad and MI6, a charge he was subsequently forced to admit on Iranian television. |
| Despite international optimism about Hassan Rouhani’s government when it was elected in 2013, the arrests and prosecutions of journalists in Iran have continued. | |
| Failing to reinstate the 4,000-member Association of Iranian Journalists has drawn particular criticism, something Rouhani had promised to do while campaigning. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) highlights censorship of the internet as particularly prevalent, ranking Iran among the 10 most censored countries in the world, alongside China, Vietnam, Azerbaijan and Eritrea. | Failing to reinstate the 4,000-member Association of Iranian Journalists has drawn particular criticism, something Rouhani had promised to do while campaigning. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) highlights censorship of the internet as particularly prevalent, ranking Iran among the 10 most censored countries in the world, alongside China, Vietnam, Azerbaijan and Eritrea. |
| It would not be a surprise if the authorities in Iran soon blocked access to Journalism is Not a Crime website. But the team behind it is confident people would find a way to bypass the filters, as they do with other blocked addresses. Through the use of proxys and VPNs, Iranians successfully circumnavigate state censors that have blocked sites such as Facebook and Twitter. | It would not be a surprise if the authorities in Iran soon blocked access to Journalism is Not a Crime website. But the team behind it is confident people would find a way to bypass the filters, as they do with other blocked addresses. Through the use of proxys and VPNs, Iranians successfully circumnavigate state censors that have blocked sites such as Facebook and Twitter. |
| “We want to put names to faces, we want to give names to statistics and we want to show the world, specifically the Iranian government, that the journalists they arrest are mothers, fathers and sisters,” Bahari said. “They are not just numbers.” | “We want to put names to faces, we want to give names to statistics and we want to show the world, specifically the Iranian government, that the journalists they arrest are mothers, fathers and sisters,” Bahari said. “They are not just numbers.” |
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