After being arrested in 2008 and detained for nearly two years, on September 28, 2010, Hossein Derakhshan, Canadian-Iranian citizen, was sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison. His crime: blogging.
According to multiple websites including Iranfocus.com and CBC.CA, Derakhshan was tried on charges of blogging against the Iranian government and spreading anti-Iranian propaganda from his home in Toronto. Additional charges were “collaborating with enemy states,” referring to his trip to Israel which is prohibited by Iranian law, and “insulting religious sanctity.”
 |
| Image from Google Images |
Since then, Derakhshan’s blog has been taken down, Iran has banned two newspapers, the Bahar Zanjan (weekly) and Andishe-ye No (daily) due to “insulting the country’s officials” and sentenced Isa Saharkhiz, an Iranian journalist, to three years in prison for “insulting Iran’s Supreme Leader” and “issuing propaganda against the regime,” according to the New York Times.
How foreign is this issue—and I use that word purposefully—to a nation such as the United States where freedom of speech and press is clearly stated in the founding document of the country?
Derakhshan, known as the “Blogfather,” developed software that allowed Iranians to post blogs in their own language. In times where the latest innovations in technology are revered, anticipated, and used to their full potential, people—journalists—are being arrested, incarcerated, and most important, silenced because they are using yet another medium to reach out to the public.
As stated in Articles 18 and 19 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “everyone has the right to freedom of thought…opinion and expression.” If this stands true, then how, in the 21st century, in the year 2010, are reporters, foreign correspondents, and journalists from across the globe being detained for simply exercising their rights as human beings to express their ideas?
 |
| Image from Google Images |
This led me to ponder on the phrase “International Affairs.” The incarceration of Derakhshan is not an issue that just concerns Iran. This is an international issue that needs to be seen through a global lens.
Derakhshan holds both Iranian and Canadian citizenship, yet Iran refuses to acknowledge his dual citizenship, using this negation as a means to subject Derakhshan to the strict laws of Iran. Due to this, Canada not only has limited access to Derakhshan but also limited power when it comes to aiding in his release.
Just one year ago, former president Bill Clinton rescued two American journalists who were being held by North Korea on crimes of illegally crossing into the country and engaging in “hostile acts.” This type of situation is becoming more realistic to nations across the globe. The proximity of this issue may not be measured in miles but rather in emotions such as fear and national unity.
The sharp juxtaposition of the arrest of a journalist against the background of the modern times in which we live is almost unfathomable to me. The sheer thought of being arrested for posting a blog, not unlike the one I am writing now, is practically mind-blowing, making its relevance timeless and an issue not to be ignored.
For more information please explore these websites:
No comments:
Post a Comment