http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/headlines.cgi?q=1&s=4 en http://cyberdissidents.org/images/logo.jpg http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/headlines.cgi?q=1&s=4 http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1253&q=1&s=4 Thu, 09 May 2013 08:51:05 +0500 Cyberdissidents.org Blogger Board Member Maikel Nabil writes "If you?re an atheist, then you?re lucky you aren?t in Bangladesh this week. Last Sunday, violence exploded in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, leaving at least 30 people dead. The violence was organized by a coalition of Islamic groups calling themselves ?Hefazat-e Islam,? which means in Arabic ?Protectors of Islam.? Islamists took the streets chanting ?Hang Atheists,? aiming to abolish the...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1240&q=1&s=4 Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:15:22 +0500 Last week, the United Nation?s Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran submitted his third report to the Human Rights Council and it was not good news. Dr. Ahmad Shaheed expressed his grave concern about the deteriorating situation for Iran?s Baha'i population since his last report during the 67th session of the U.N. General Assembly in October 2012. Human rights group ?Justice for Iran? also just released its list of 15 Iranian officials that they have labeled as the...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1237&q=1&s=4 Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:29:11 +0500 In 2008, in the midst of writing about a new law concerning Iranian women requiring a male guardian?s permission to leave the country, I stopped for a moment, closed my eyes and listened to my surroundings. The fast, mechanical sounds of typing took me back to the newsrooms in Iran before I left in 2006. A voice startled me from my reverie and returned me to my small living room that I shared with my husband and another journalist friend, who had recently come to the US. During...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1234&q=1&s=4 Thu, 21 Feb 2013 11:31:19 +0500 The next Iranian presidential election is just months away, and the results of the last election are still bitterly disputed. Mass protests took place across Iran, following the 2009 election, where millions gathered in a contentious uproar over a perceived fraudulent electoral process. The demonstrations were sparked by the Green Movement candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi?s call for a fair and transparent voting process. The protests were met with strong resistance by government officials, and...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1226&q=1&s=4 Mon, 04 Feb 2013 09:19:03 +0500   Imprisoned Iranian lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, who herself frequently represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians, was granted a furlough for three days after spending the past 867 days in prison. For the first time in over two years, Sotoudeh was able to hug her young children. Her furlough meant a great deal to the Iranian social media community, which celebrated her three days of relative ?freedom? with messages of support. As previously mentioned on...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1224&q=1&s=4 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 08:59:35 +0500 Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent Iranian human rights defender representing Iranian opposition activists and politicians, is serving a six-year sentence in an Iranian prison and is banned from practicing law for ten years. She is accused of allegedly spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security, and is considered a serious threat to the Iranian authorities, because she defends the right to freedom of speech and expression. As a cause of this, she has been separated from her...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1215&q=1&s=4 Mon, 26 Nov 2012 14:26:10 +0500   From Sattar Beheshti?s last post on  his blog This article first appeared on Azar Mehr's Blog: www.azarmehr.info Sattar Beheshti, the Iranian blogger, who was killed under torture in the Islamic Republic dungeons had probably never met Omid Mir Sayafi, another Iranian blogger who died in prison in 2009, but nevertheless there seems to be a link between them; that of referring to Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon?s Hezbollah, on their blogs. Omid Mir...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1211&q=1&s=4 Tue, 13 Nov 2012 08:31:06 +0500 It is deeply shocking to learn of the death of the Iranian netizen Sattar Beheshti, two days ago, six days after he was arrested and taken into custody in Tehran. His family learned of the tragic news in a message to his mother asking her to collect the body the next day. Beheshti was believed to have died under torture while he was being interrogated.   Beheshti, a 35-year-old worker and political activist, was arrested at his home on 30 October by the FTA, Iran?s cyber police, for ?actions...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1205&q=1&s=4 Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:31:51 +0500 Eight Iranian female political prisoners halted their hunger strike after a week protesting sudden violent searches by prison guards. The prisoners started the strike after female guards at Evin prison in northern Tehran carried out unannounced inspections that included body searches, beatings and verbal insults. Cyber activists have been reacting to this news by creating slideshows like the one shown below to highlight the activists and their various backgrounds:                    ...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1199&q=1&s=4 Thu, 18 Oct 2012 08:59:38 +0500 Bazaaries, the Farsi name for Iran?s traditional merchants, are typically a conservative, wealthy bunch reluctant to involve themselves in politics. But their displeasure with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who they believe is responsible for bungling the economy, has changed that. On Oct. 2, in a unique confrontation between the Bazaaries and the government, the merchants closed the Bazaar and protested against Ahmadinejad, the government, and, more specifically, the sharp decline of Iran?s...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1194&q=1&s=4 Fri, 05 Oct 2012 07:34:27 +0500 The following article first appeared on The Wall Street Journal. To access, click HERE. On Sunday, the Hirschhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., will open the first major American exhibition of art by Ai Weiwei, one of China's most famous dissidents. Among its works: an approximately 3-by-6-foot magnetic-resonance image of his brain bleeding from a police beating in 2009. Washington diplomats, journalists and art lovers will attend the exhibit before it moves to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1192&q=1&s=4 Mon, 01 Oct 2012 11:52:38 +0500 Iranian authorities have restored access to Gmail a week after blocking Google's popular email service. The Islamic Republic blocked Gmail last week in response to video clips posted on YouTube of an anti-Islam film that set off deadly protests across the Muslim world -- a ban that sparked a slew of complaints from Internet users and officials in Iran. Iran has an estimated 32 million Internet users out of a total population of around 75 million. On Monday, Mohammad Reza Aghamiri, a member of...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1191&q=1&s=4 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 11:53:06 +0500 Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is in New York for the annual UN General Assembly; however, this visit will be his last.   This is the final year of his two term presidency, but he has shocked many by suggesting otherwise. Recently, an Iranian national TV reporter pointed out that, ?This is your last year in office;? to which Ahmadinejad responded: ?Says who? People chose me and I?ll be in office as long as they want me to be.? As scary a thought as this may be, as it stands, this...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1188&q=1&s=4 Mon, 24 Sep 2012 07:37:34 +0500 As Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in New York for his last official visit to the United Nations, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has released a short video demonstrating and highlighting systematic cover-ups accompanying the marked rise in human rights violations over the eight years of his presidency. ?Every time Mahmoud Ahmadinejad comes to New York, the human rights community hopes that the international community will hold him accountable for the human...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1203&q=1&s=4 Fri, 21 Sep 2012 11:24:11 +0500 The following excerpt was originally published on September 21, 2012 by the Toronto Sun under the title, "Liberal MP asks UN to ban Iranian prez." To access the full article, please click here. OTTAWA - Well-regarded international human rights lawyer and Liberal MP Irwin Cotler says enough is enough when it comes to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Fed up that the United Nations has, year after year, given the Iranian president a prestigious forum at its General Assembly in New...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1185&q=1&s=4 Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:11:37 +0500 Saeed Malekpour is an Iranian web-programmer who had been working in Canada as a freelance web designer since 2004. On October 4, 2008, while visiting his terminally ill father in Iran, plain-clothed agents threw him in the back of a sedan and placed him under arrest. No warrant or proper identification was presented when he was taken into custody. Malekpour wrote a program that enabled his clients to upload photos onto their websites. A party that was not affiliated with him used this program...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1183&q=1&s=4 Mon, 17 Sep 2012 11:20:24 +0500 In his interview with Solmaz Sharif, Iranian journalist and online activist Ehsan Noruzi identified three main problems facing internet users in Iran today. First, cyber infrastructure is poor, many Iranians lack internet access, and those who do have it often rely on outdated ?dial-up? connections or have difficulty accessing certain web services because of poor bandwidth. ?The main problem is the speed of the internet and the restrictions they [the Iranian government and military] put on the...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1182&q=1&s=4 Fri, 14 Sep 2012 14:16:53 +0500 Canada has closed its embassy in Iran and expelled the remaining Iranian diplomats in Canada, according to a statement released by Foreign Minister John Baird. The announcement was met with shock among both Iranian and Canadian citizens. Barbara Slavin, the Washington Correspondent for Al-Monitor, a Middle East-focused reporting service, tweeted: ?explain how making it more difficult for Iranians to travel to Canada and for Canadian-Iranians to go to Iran helps solve the nuke issue?? Iranian...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1177&q=1&s=4 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 08:12:35 +0500 CyberDissidents.org would like to encourage our audience interested in Iran and the Middle East to participate in CUNY BA?s Conference on October 17th, 2012. CUNY Baccalaureate is organizing a conference on the Political Future of Iran. We invited faculty, commentators, journalists and students with first-hand experience on Iran. Our guests will share their expertise to further the understanding of current events in the country. We will attempt to cover a broad range of issues concerning modern...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1170&q=1&s=4 Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:39:36 +0500 ]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1168&q=1&s=4 Tue, 28 Aug 2012 11:37:08 +0500 ]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1165&q=1&s=4 Wed, 22 Aug 2012 09:00:49 +0500 Just before 5PM local time on August 11, 2012, two large earthquakes with respective magnitudes of 6.4 and 6.3 hit the northeastern region of Iran within eleven minutes, causing a continuous string of aftershocks and over 300 deaths. In response to the poor coverage of the tragedy by Iranian State-sponsored television, citizens and lawmakers swiftly organized search-and-rescue groups via Facebook. The speed of this cyber campaign fostered an effective citizen-based recovery effort, mobilizing...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1163&q=1&s=4 Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:42:19 +0500 The following article first appeared on The New York Times. To access, click HERE.   Thirty-six universities in Iran have banned women from 77 fields of study.   The ban, which was first reported Aug. 6 by Iran?s semiofficial Mehr News Agency, came as the results of university entrance exams for the coming academic year were being announced. The restrictions were not noted in previously distributed university leaflets but will affect students for the coming year. Subjects now open only to...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1160&q=1&s=4 Sun, 12 Aug 2012 14:40:00 +0500 On August 11, 2012, CyberDissidents.org hosted a conference call with student leaders and Parvaneh Vahidmanesh, an Iranian dissident and program manager at Freedom House.  Parvaneh described how her political activism and journalism in Iran forced her to seek political asylum in the United States.  The internet has greatly facilitated her activism since she was exiled. She attributes the prominence of cyber-activism in Iran to the fact that, under regime repression, activists have...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1156&q=1&s=4 Fri, 10 Aug 2012 09:46:25 +0500 The following article first appeared on Huffington Post. To access, click HERE. During the women's Olympic gymnastic competition on July 29, Lynn and Rickey Raisman were proud to watch their daughter Aly compete in the arena. Their nervousness and joy in their daughter's achievements was a familiar scene for many parents, but it is only a dream for others around the world -- particularly in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although the Iranian government has permitted some women's teams to...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1155&q=1&s=4 Wed, 08 Aug 2012 10:43:34 +0500 The book, Zahra?s Paradise, is a timely example of how the Internet can be used as a platform to support online activists in totalitarian regimes. The book started off as a web-comic that covered news of Iran?s Green Movement, and was published a year later in the United States on September 13, 2011, by graphic novel publisher, First Second Book. The book was created by a Persian writer, an Arab artist, and a Jewish editor, who have all chosen to remain anonymous for political reasons. Two of...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1148&q=1&s=4 Mon, 30 Jul 2012 08:02:07 +0500 The following article first appeared on The Huffington Post. To access to the original, click HERE. As the 1979 revolution was reaching a climax, for those who were euphoric over its possible triumph, few had imagined worrying about Ayatollah Khomeini's implementation of compulsory hejab. "Bringing down the tyrant!," they chanted. This was the rallying cry from a wide spectrum of Iranian citizens. It is commonly assumed that those involved in the Revolution were a bunch of Islamists...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1146&q=1&s=4 Wed, 25 Jul 2012 13:44:35 +0500 The following article first appeared on CNET. To access, click HERE. Iranian officials are hoping to team up with Facebook in an effort to remove Pages and Groups that feature pornography or are soliciting prostitution. More broadly, the Iranian police force has announced plans to cleanse the Internet of content its country deems inappropriate. The new tidbit comes from the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA (via the Associated Press), which interviewed Commander Kamal Hadianfar, the head...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1144&q=1&s=4 Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:22:20 +0500 We would like to invite all of our readers, including our student ambassadors, to participate in a conference call with an Iranian activist who has been working as Iran program manager at Freedom House. Parvaneh Vahidmanesh is also an active cyber dissident spreading her message through her Facebook and Twitter accounts. Parvaneh Vahidmanesh and Solmaz Sharif, CyberDissidents.org?s Iran Program Manager, will be discussing the current political situation in Iran and the impact the Internet has...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1141&q=1&s=4 Thu, 19 Jul 2012 14:10:27 +0500 A deadly attack on Wednesday, July 18, delivered the harshest blow yet to President Bashar al-Assad's regime, bringing the bloodshed into his inner circle. Three top officials were killed and a number of others were wounded in an explosion at a national security building in Damascus, state TV reported. Iranian journalist Borzou Daragahi tweeted:   #Syria: Opposition activist says blast was targeting Bashar, injured Maher, carried out by commissioned officer bit.ly/NZGrlD Borzou Daragahi...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1139&q=1&s=4 Mon, 16 Jul 2012 06:18:20 +0500 The following article first appeared on International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. To access, click HERE. Iranian officials should cease spreading lies and disinformation about the existence of political prisoners as they are simultaneously imprisoning hundreds for exercising their legal rights, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. The Judiciary should also immediately release all political prisoners and stop imprisoning individuals for expressing their...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1138&q=1&s=4 Thu, 12 Jul 2012 09:04:21 +0500 The following article, first appeared on CNN Ireport. To access, click HERE. Bahman is still in solitary confinement, and my mother says: ?The  weather?s very hot. How can he tolerate that claustrophobic cell in the  basement of Rajai-Shahr prison? A cell without air conditioning or a  cooling system? My mother tells me: ?Write to the officials in  charge of Evin Prison?s Security Justice Office and explain to them that  Bahman is only a journalist and should not be...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1135&q=1&s=4 Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:56:56 +0500 Imprisoned Iranian journalist, Bahman Ahmadi Amouee, was put in solitary confinement in Iran's Rajaii Shahr Prison by government officials. Some believe he is being punished for his resistance. Mana Neyestani, an Iranian cartoonist, presented this picture Bahman:              ]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1134&q=1&s=4 Thu, 05 Jul 2012 10:12:34 +0500 An Iranian court allowed a gang of rapists, responsible for five rapes, to go free. According to Tabnak.ir, the rapists were caught one night in June when a young woman ran into a Pakdasht Police Station, covered in blood, because she had been sexually assaulted. She died later that night in the hospital, but not before identifying the rapists. Police have since uncovered four other rapes that were committed by the same culprits. While they could face execution for these crimes, they?ve been...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1129&q=1&s=4 Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:14:34 +0500 We would like to invite all of our readers, including our student ambassadors, to participate in a conference call with an Iranian activist who was arrested in Iran in 2004 and imprisoned and tortured in 2006.  Mojtaba Saminejad (AKA: Madyar) is currently the editor of Ferowsi magazine and the president of Shahr-e Khorshid publications.  He also recently joined our Blogger Board.   Mojtaba Saminejad and Solmaz Sharif, CyberDissidents.org?s...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1143&q=1&s=4 Mon, 25 Jun 2012 10:03:59 +0500 After being ignored by international courts for the past two years, survivors of the Islamic Republic of Iran?s mass executions have taken matters into their own hands. Between 1981 and 1989, the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) executed 25,000 political prisoners, making it the bloodiest decade in modern Iranian history. Now for the first time, survivors and the families of victims are investigating the massacre with a tribunal held in Amnesty International?s headquarters in London from June...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1124&q=1&s=4 Tue, 19 Jun 2012 08:01:05 +0500 An Iranian blogger, Masoud, recently wrote a blog post highlighting the pressure Islamic law puts on women in Iranian universities. ?A friend of mine studies at one of Iran?s largest universities? Masoud wrote.  ?I called her yesterday and she wasn?t very happy. Apparently, one of the university?s morality officials summoned her and banned her from taking her finals as a punishment for wearing nail polish in the university.?   ?Because she only had one semester left before graduation,...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1119&q=1&s=4 Thu, 14 Jun 2012 06:59:11 +0500 The following article first appeared on The Daily Beast. To access, click HERE.  In his 25 years at Random House, Robert Bernstein published authors from William Faulkner to Dr. Seuss. After traveling to the Soviet Union in 1973, Bernstein began a second long career in the human-rights movement, advocating for Soviet dissidents and fighting to publish writers, like Vaclav Havel, who were censored in their own countries. Now Bernstein?s organization, Advancing Human Rights, is merging...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1118&q=1&s=4 Wed, 13 Jun 2012 06:30:55 +0500 Iranian officials recently banned unaccompanied women from entering traditional restaurants, which serve Hooka and the traditional Iranian dish, Dizi. The officials  did not provide  an explanation for this draconian  measure. One Iranian online activist, Majid Tavakoli, wrote the following on his Facebook: ?I was walking on the street [in Tehran] when I saw a big sign on the entrance of a traditional restaurant that says: ?We don?t welcome addicts, drunks and women!? I was...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1116&q=1&s=4 Mon, 11 Jun 2012 08:42:11 +0500 The following video, uploaded on Youtube, shows a public whipping that took place in Miyaneh, Iran on May 20, 2012. In this video, a 25-year- old man is whipped for drinking alcohol.  Viewer discretion is advised.  ]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1109&q=1&s=4 Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:02:02 +0500 CyberDissidents.org is delighted to announce that Iranian activist Mojtaba Saminejad, AKA Madyar, has joined our Blogger Board. Mojtaba Saminejad studied journalism at the Islamic Azad University of Tehran. He is currently the editor of Ferowsi magazine and the president of Shahr-e Khorshid publications. Saminejad was first arrested on November 1, 2004 for writing about the arrest of three other bloggers. Officially, he was charged with insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran, for being a threat...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1105&q=1&s=4 Thu, 24 May 2012 11:38:09 +0500 On July 13, 2010, formerly imprisoned Egyptian democracy activist, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, wrote:   "A small group of activists in the Middle East have attacked CyberDissidents.org because some of its members are Israeli.  I serve as an advisory board member to this marvelous organization and I am saddened by the attacks on it.  CyberDissidents.org promotes freedom of expression in the Middle East, a cause which people of all faiths and nationalities should support....]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1103&q=1&s=4 Thu, 24 May 2012 09:20:54 +0500 Marzieh Rasouli, an Iranian journalist who was released from Evin prison recently, wrote the following post on her blog: ?My body wouldn?t cooperate with me [in solitary confinement]. I?ve never been alone for this long and as a result, I ended up focusing on my body and its pains. My back, feet, and hips hurt if I sat down for too long, but there was only enough space to take three steps if I?d walked. ?I was angry at my body for not understanding that sitting was the only thing one can do in...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1101&q=1&s=4 Mon, 21 May 2012 13:02:39 +0500 We would like to invite all of our readers, including our student ambassadors, to participate in a conference call with an Iranian activist who was imprisoned in Iran in 2010 and 2011. Ehsan Mehrabi and Solmaz Sharif, CyberDissidents.org?s Iran Program Manager, will be discussing the current political situation in Iran and the impact of the Internet in social movements. The call will take place on Friday, June 01. 2012 at 11 am. If you are interested in joining the discussion, please let us...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1099&q=1&s=4 Tue, 15 May 2012 13:37:30 +0500 The following article first appeared on The New York Times. To access, please click HERE. With lyrics that tread on ultrasensitive topics and an album cover that shows the dome of a mosque in the shape of a woman?s breast, Shahin Najafi is an international rapper who elicits an intense reaction here. But Mr. Najafi?s latest song, ?Naghi,? named after a Shiite saint, has prompted a particular uproar. Opponents of Mr. Najafi are using a recent fatwa by a leading cleric, Ayatollah Lotfollah...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1085&q=1&s=4 Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:18:09 +0500 Fatemeh Shams, an Iranian poet and activist in Oxford, wrote recently on her blog: ?Wherever I go these days, regardless of the situation (if I?m giving a lecture or at a party), as soon as people know I?m Iranian, they ask: ?Do you think Iran will be attacked this year?? My answer is, ?I hope not,? while I mull over the fact that my nationality is now tied with prospects of war. I also think of Iranians who were abroad during the Iran-Iraq War [1980-1988]. How did it feel for them to wake up...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1083&q=1&s=4 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:19:54 +0500 An Iranian blogger shared an experience about gender inequality from a female perspective in her blog, Baloot, on April 6,2012. ?I complimented a girl on her swimming at our college pool last week. She grinned and responded: ?Yes, everyone tells me that I swim as well as boys.? I didn?t say anything but it stuck in my mind. She feels accomplished when she compares herself with men. Well, this enpowers gender inequality when success is associated with men. I saw her this week again and told her...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1079&q=1&s=4 Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:20:44 +0500 Iranian children are now banned from singing and dancing in kindergarten. In an interview with Fars News Agency on April 3, 2012, the head of the Welfare Organization for Tehran, Valiollah Nasr, announced: ?The authorities will deal severely with kindergartens that have an immoral syllabus which teach children to sing and dance.? Nasr added, ?Their programs should be in line with Islamic values,? but refrained from defining which ?Islamic values? they contradict.   The news quickly spread...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1077&q=1&s=4 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:19:22 +0500 The following article originally appeared on CNN.com. To access the original article, please click here. Two months ago, Emad Ghavidel turned on the television in Tehran and saw graphic footage of an injured Syrian child crying out in pain. The 24-year-old Iranian rapper was horrified by the violence and the government's brutal crackdown on Homs. The more Ghavidel learned about it, the angrier he became. He decided to channel his frustration into his music. He wrote a song, "The Battle of...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1076&q=1&s=4 Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:20:33 +0500 Ehsan Mehrabi, an Iranian journalist who spent time in Evin prison, recently wrote an article about stories that he witnessed inside the prison. He uploaded the article (originally published on Iran Green Voice) and a picture of the children of four imprisoned dissidents on his Facebook page. The picture was taken in the Evin prison visitor?s lobby and shows Mohammad Amin (son of Farid Taheri), Kahen (son of Babak Dashab) and Mohammad Erfan (son of Amirkhosro Dalirsani), waiting to visit their...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1073&q=1&s=4 Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:25:42 +0500 Nasrin Sotudeh, an Iranian lawyer, publicized an unjustified case of imprisonment via social media while herself in prison. Sotudeh relayed information about the case to her husband during his visits. Shortly after, her husband posted the case on his Facebook page which went viral. Sotudeh?s husband, Reza Khandan, wrote: ?Soghra is the name of a woman who was imprisoned at the age of 13 for murder and has spent 23 years in jail. She has been sentenced to execution; even though she always denied...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1072&q=1&s=4 Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:00:43 +0500 In this animation from Amnesty and The Guardian, Iranian lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei tells of one particular case that stayed with him. Behnoud Shojaee was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 2006, for a crime he committed when he was 17. Watch his story in the film above. Iran continues to sentence juvenile offenders to death, and execute for crimes that were committed when the offender was under 18 - a practice strictly prohibited under international law. At least three juvenile...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1066&q=1&s=4 Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:51:41 +0500 In a recent blog post, Parastoo Dokohaki, an Iranian journalist who was in prison from January 15th to February 26,2012, compares the loneliness of prison Vs. exile. She says, ?I used to think solitary confinement was the loneliest place on Earth before experiencing it. It sounded like the harshest and weirdest type of loneliness when you are cut off from your daily routines. ? Based on her experience, the Iranian blogger said she prefers solitary confinement to migrating from her home country....]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1061&q=1&s=4 Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:11:10 +0500   We would like to invite all of our readers, including our student ambassadors, to participate in a conference call with a leading Iranian online activist who was imprisoned in Iran in 2003. One of his nine charges was: ?endangering the regime via his online activities.? Roozbeh Mirebrahimi and Solmaz Sharif, CyberDissidents.org?s Iranian Program Coordinator, will be discussing the current political situation in Iran and the impact of the Internet in social movements. The call will take place...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1058&q=1&s=4 Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:00:46 +0500 A wacky TV commercial from Mellat Bank, Iran?s National Bank, spread like wildfire on the Internet among Iranian netizens. Iran?s government-sponsored bank launched a TV commercial for the Iranian New Year holiday based on the music video produced for  Jennifer Lopez?s ?Papi? single. The commercial centers on a man who is the winner of the Mellat Bank?s Lottery who is being chased by each man he crosses paths with. This sparked a series of jokes and mockery among Iranian netizens of...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1056&q=1&s=4 Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:42:54 +0500 Nesvan is an Iranian group blog that is comprised of a number of online activists who write under pseudonyms. They write on a variety of topics, the majority concern issues related to women?s rights. The following article comes from a recent post: ?In my parents? home, my family was like a democracy. My father would encourage my siblings and I to express our opinions. We would even vote on the furniture with which we decorated our home. My parents never prohibited us from wearing some...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1053&q=1&s=4 Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:59:24 +0500 The Iranian New Year, Norouz, is on March 20, 2012. While many people are getting ready for the New Year and its traditions and celebrations that date back to antiquity, Mahsa Amrabadi, Iranian journalist and wife of imprisoned journalist Masoud Bastani, updated her Facebook status with the following statement: ?I will start this new year, too, without Masoud. I realized that I?m not even imagining Masoud with me on this upcoming year. I?m pretty sure that they [the officials] will cancel my...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1052&q=1&s=4 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:45:33 +0500 (from left- Roya Hakakian, Anne Barnard, Chris Devito of Iran180, Arash Abadpour, Solmaz Sharif) On Thursday, March 8, 2012, CyberDissidents.org?s Iranian Programs Coordinator, Solmaz Sharif, spoke at Iran180?s event marking International Women?s Day. Mediated by New York Times contributor Anne Barnard, Sharif was joined by prominent Iranian blogger, Arash Abadpour, as well as poet and founding member of Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, Roya Hakakian. The discussion focused on the...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1050&q=1&s=4 Thu, 15 Mar 2012 08:13:53 +0500 A Separation is an Iranian movie that depicts a common dilemma among Iranian families to emigrates or stay in Iran. The movie, written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, received the Oscar for The Best International Film,  the Golden Bear for Best Film, and the Silver Bear for both Best Actress and Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival. It has received rave reviews from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Guardian. Simin (Leila Hatami) wishes to emigrate...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1049&q=1&s=4 Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:40:41 +0500 On March 1, 2012, Spain's Telediario news program interviewed CyberDissidents.org's Solmaz Sharif on the subject of increased censorship and repression of Iranian online activists and bloggers. Below is the segment in which she spoke.  ]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1044&q=1&s=4 Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:32:58 +0500 There is growing concern over the fate of jailed blogger Mehdi Khazali, who has reportedly been on hunger strike over his detention for some 60 days. His defiance has turned him into a hero of Iran's opposition movement, and Khazali vowed to continue his strike until he is released. The opposition "Kalame" website reports that Khazali has now escalated his protest by going on a "dry hunger strike," meaning that he is also refusing to drink liquids, on which he had been...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1043&q=1&s=4 Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:15:03 +0500 The following appeared on Women'sEnews. To view the original, click HERE. Turkish journalist Rabia Kazan's life and perspective of Islam changed profoundly after an eye-opening trip to Iran in 2007. Kazan, born in 1976, began her career at Flash TV, the first Turkish private TV Channel, when she was 20. She was considered to be a radical Muslim woman in 2007 when she traveled to Iran, hoping to find a haven for Muslim women. Iran had been an Islamic Republic since 1978. But the things that she...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1041&q=1&s=4 Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:13:15 +0500 ?What would you do if you took your two gloomy and sad children to visit their mother in prison, after not seeing their innocent mother for 18 months, and the guard didn?t let your 12 year-old daughter enter because she didn?t have ?a proper scarf??!? wrote Reza Khandan on his Facebook status on February 22, 2012. Khandan?s wife is Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian lawyer who has been imprisoned for 18 months, without a single furlough. Khandan has been taking care of their two children, aged twelve...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1040&q=1&s=4 Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:39:42 +0500 Fifty-one fellow inmates of Saeed Malekpour, an Iranian web developer re-sentenced to death in January 2012, published an open letter revealing that Malekpour?s confessions were obtained through torture and, therefore, not legitimate, BBC Persian recently reported. Iran?s Supreme Court found the blogger guilty of promoting pornographic sites. Malekpour was reportedly imprisoned in October 2009, and confessed on Iranian TV that he developed and promoted pornographic websites. Gerdab.ir, a...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1035&q=1&s=4 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:56:53 +0500 Payman Aref, an Iranian law student and political activist, published a shocking post on his Facebook page on January 26, 2012. Aref, who received 74 lashes in Evin prison in October 2011, reported the following:   ?Life can sometimes be very funny. I went to visit a former cell mate of mine, who was recently released on short furlough. He, in turn, informed me that the man who interrogated me 10 years ago was now himself in prison!? Aref continued:   ?I asked my friend how he could be sure...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1029&q=1&s=4 Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:11:14 +0500 This article, called "Crippling US Sanctions on Iran Bring Year of Economic Jihad", originally appeared in Policymic. To access the original, please click here.   ?This is the Year of Economic Jihad? declared Iran?s Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei last spring at the beginning of the Persian year. The New Year?s announcement was meant to encourage the Iranian people to increase their efforts and jumpstart an economic boom, but with the year not yet over, Iran?s economy is ?booming?...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1017&q=1&s=4 Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:33:31 +0500 CNN Dialouges: The Arab ?Spring?: A Path to Democracy? A singular protest by a Tunisian street vendor ignited rebellion, resistance and regime change that spurred a tumultuous year across the Arab world. Now, armed with new media, fresh and vibrant voices are emerging all across the region to challenge old political control and some cultural traditions. What is often called the ?cradle of civilization? is in a state of change. Is this truly an Arab Spring? Revolutions can be hijacked,...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1016&q=1&s=4 Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:27:52 +0500 The following appeared on policymic.com. To view the original, click here. While the Iranian standoff continues with European oil sanctions and American vessels crossing the Straits of Hormuz, time is left in Iran to deal with more significant threats. Just last week, Iranian officials sentenced Aria Aramnejad, a singer, to 10 months in prison. His crime was a song, ?Ali Barkhiz? (?Rise up Ali?), written following the Ashura uprising of 2009"a series of civic protests that turned into one...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1015&q=1&s=4 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:18:02 +0500 Dorsa Allahverdi, an Iranian student, found over the phone on 23 November that due to an ?incomplete file? she had to go to the Education Evaluation Organization. While there she was told she had been expelled from the university due to her belief in the Baha?i Faith. In 2011 alone, over 20 Baha?i students were expelled from different universities. Those universities expelling students include the Isfahan University of Technology, Shiraz University and Sharif University. Among those expelled...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1011&q=1&s=4 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:29:27 +0500 The European Union agreed on January 23 to implement sanctions on Iranian oil in an attempt to increase international pressure to stop Iran?s nuclear weapon development. Many Iranian activists doubt Iran?s ability or desire to have nuclear weapons and now blame the government for its nuclear venture which has turned the world against Iran. Mojtaba Saminejad, an Iranian activist, posted the following on Facebook after the EU?s announcement: ?We have a government that shuts its eyes to the...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1004&q=1&s=4 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:09:54 +0500 On December 8, CyberDissidents.org held a conference call with famed Iranian blogger Ahmad Batebi, CyberDissidents.org Iran affairs coordinator Solmaz Sharif, and student leaders from New York University, Brown University, King?s College, Edinburgh University, and several other campuses from across the United States. The blogger discussed the current situation in Iran. CyberDissidents.org?s co-founder, David Keyes, moderated the discussion. How do you see events in Iran in the last few weeks or...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1003&q=1&s=4 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:21:17 +0500 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, has been repeating his slogans about the economy since the day he ran for election. He has done such a poor job that unemployment, inflation, and a currency crisis have been the only results of all his talk. Maryam Amoosa, an Iranian journalist, updated her Facebook status on December 9: ?I was on the subway tonight when a five-year-old boy who was sitting next to me turned to me and said, ?I?m coming back home from work too. I?m tired.? I was in shock...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=1000&q=1&s=4 Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:32:05 +0500 Iranian officials brought Aria Aramnejad, a singer associated with the Green Movement to court on December 11 in hand cuffs and leg irons. Aramnejad has been in prison since November 2011 for his support of the opposition. His wife updated her Facebook page: ?They brought Aria to court today. People were excited to see him, but he was hand and leg cuffed! ?He was calm and had a smile on his face. He also told me, ?These clothes [prison uniform] don?t make me sad.  The regime should feel...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=998&q=1&s=4 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:02:33 +0500 So many outrageous stories have come out of Iran in recent years. The latest news is that Iranian police arrested two 10-year-old girls in Mashhad, a religious city in northeast Iran, for not wearing a hijab or scarf, Iran News Agency, reported on Jan. 4.   ?Three policemen left the car, one with a gun, another with a camera in hand, and the third officer ran after the two girls who were very scared about being arrested. The policemen?s shouts at the girls stunned people in the neighborhood.?...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=993&q=1&s=4 Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:16:17 +0500 Iranian activists have long used the Internet and social media to build up their political movements, but others argue that social media is actually ?inactivating? the public because protesting online is enough to satisfy many people. Maryam Amouzegar, an Iranian photographer, alludes to this new trend in a joke on Facebook: ?A man asked an American what his hobby was and the American replied ?Traveling.? He asked a Japanese man the same question, and he answered, ?I make robots.? An Italian...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=989&q=1&s=4 Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:04:00 +0500 An anonymous man posted the following on Mamlekateh Darim?s Facebook page, which drew thousands of ?likes? and hundreds of comments: ?My brother, who is serving his mandatory two years in the Air Force, told me that they make life-size airplane models on their base and place them on the runways. He asked why, and his commander replied: ?When America spies on us with satellite images, they will think we have all these real airplanes. It scares them and they won?t attack us.?   ?????? ?? ?????...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=987&q=1&s=4 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:21:31 +0500 On December 8th, a state-run television channel in Iran triumphantly showed off the US drone that Iran claims to have captured. Chinese and Russian experts immediately asked Iran for access to inspect the drone. Iran?s capture of such a high technology aircraft quickly became a hot topic in the media, but Iranian reactions to this event have differed on social media outlets. Iranians have been making jokes about the regime?s reaction to the drone. Bahman, an Internet user, said on the Mamlekate...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=982&q=1&s=4 Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:51:43 +0500 The following article first appeared in The Investigative Fund. To access it, please click HERE. In its December 8 report, the Committee to Protect Journalists announced that Iran was the worst place in the world for journalists in 2011. According to this report, 179 writers, editors, and photojournalists have been imprisoned around the world this year, an increase of 34 from 2010. Iran is at the top of the list with 42 journalists behind bars; last year it shared the worst offender status with...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=977&q=1&s=4 Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:03:31 +0500 ]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=968&q=1&s=4 Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:14:44 +0500 The Justice Department in Shiraz, Iran, announced on Dec. 11 that officials chopped the feet off a convicted bank robber who had previously lost his hands for the same reason. Ali Alghasi Mehr, Shiraz?s public prosecutor, said the amputation illustrates the ?decisive measures the criminal justice system will take to deal with serious crimes.? Iranian blogger Nasrin Basiri commented on Facebook: ?They chopped off a thief?s hands and feet in Shiraz while ?the leader? is upset about the media...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=967&q=1&s=4 Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:12:43 +0500 Pooneh Ghodosi, the host of a show on BBC Persian TV, Nobat-e Shoma, observed an interesting and rather funny comment from an audience member and repeated it on her Facebook Wall. An Iranian recently called in and said: ?If Iran continues its manner toward other countries around the world and loses their [friendship], NASA will send its space lab to Iran instead of Mars in few years.? He was alluding to the ever-increasing isolation that Iran is facing. The Nobat-e Shoma TV program allows...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=958&q=1&s=4 Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:08:07 +0500 Officials from Evin Prison in Tehran, forced Mohammad Hossein Khorbak to return to prison four days before his furlough time elapsed. Khorbak, 27, is a member of the Student Committee of the Mosharekat party in Iran who was arrested in the fall of 2009 for a prayer ceremony he held in Tehran. He was charged with ?acting against the regime? and a judge sentenced him to one year in prison, despite his arrest being made without clear evidence of a crime. Khorbak?s sentence will be completed in 45...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=948&q=1&s=4 Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:24:25 +0500 ]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=947&q=1&s=4 Wed, 30 Nov 2011 07:22:26 +0500 We would like to invite all of our student ambassadors to participate in a conference call with a leading Iranian online activist who escaped Iran on 2008 and found refuge in the United States of America. Ahmad Batebi and Solmaz Sharif, CyberDissidents.org?s Iranian Program Coordinator will be discussing Iran and the role of the Internet in modern dissent. The call will take place on Thursday, Dec 8th. If you are interested in joining the discussion, please let us...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=945&q=1&s=4 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:07:31 +0500 In a recent digital media exhibition in Iran, some designers created symbols of YouTube, Google, Facebook, and Twitter, encouraging people to throw stones at them to illustrate their connection to the devil. Mamlekate Darim, a popular Facebook page, published photos of the event, saying: ?Of course they would stone YouTube. All the videos about their crimes and repression have been shown to the world through this channel. YouTube shows the movies they wish nobody would see.?   Asheghe...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=935&q=1&s=4 Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:50:14 +0500 Five intelligent agents raided the home of Iranian pop singer Aria Aramnejad and arrested him, one week after he published an open letter in support of the opposition movement. On Tuesday, November 8, Aramnejad appeared before an appeals court regarding his nine-month prison sentence. Upon returning home, he was detained and taken to an unknown location. Aramnejad was beaten and handcuffed by the police, who confiscated his computer, as well as personal notes and documents. Aramnejad was...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=926&q=1&s=4 Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:56:37 +0500 Iran Eid al-Adha Without Blood On November 6th, Muslims celebrated Eid al-Adha, an Islamic holiday that commemorates the prophet Abraham?s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac, wherein people sacrifice lambs for a better future. Each year, many Iranians protest this ceremony and the killing of thousands of lambs and sheep. One Iranian journalist, Arash Sigarchi wrote the following on his Facebook page: ?We can have Eid Ghorban without any blood. Let?s practice that.?  He is likely...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=917&q=1&s=4 Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:32:24 +0500 Former Iranian dissident and member of CyberDissidents.org?s board, Ahmad Batebi wrote the following on his Facebook page: ?Sources from Iran say that 'the greens? [the Green Movement?s supporters] abstained from participating in the census. This is a new way to protest that creates a serious problem for the government because they didn?t expect it. Accordingly, the people replied to the census officers: ?When the regime doesn?t respect my vote, why does it bother to know about my existence?!??]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=918&q=1&s=4 Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:20:03 +0500 The failure of the 1979 Iranian revolution to bring greater freedom and equality is an important reason Iranians fear revolting again. Mohamad Zohrabi, an Iranian youth, alludes to this fear on his Facebook page. ?Dear Dictator, please don?t force us to revolt! Not because of your future but also for our future,? he writes.]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=916&q=1&s=4 Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:50:36 +0500 Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian lawyer, refused to wear the chador last week in Evin prison in Tehran. The chador is a long, black cover that is recommended in different interpretations of Islam but is not mandatory. After Sotoudeh?s refusal to oblige to Iran's strict dress code, the prison banned Sotoudeh's two young children from visiting her for three weeks. She explained the event in a letter she sent from Evin prison to her children. The letter reads: ?My loves! I want to see you more than...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=915&q=1&s=4 Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:18:00 +0500 Bahrain    Riot police in Bahrain brutally beat 70 year-old Ali Hussein Al Dihi while he was on his way home. Activists on Twitter and other social networks have called for a mass funeral for Dihi before 8:00 AM tomorrow. Dihi?s picture was posted on Facebook and Twitter to show support for his family on Wednesday, when Diti passed away at A Naim Medical Center.  Syrian online activists wrote:    ???? ???? ???? ??? ???? ????? ?? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??????? ????? ???...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=912&q=1&s=4 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:42:37 +0500 Iranians have largely reacted to the current uprisings in the region with caution and worry. Perhaps main reason for this is the experience of living through a failed revolution themselves over three decades ago. Iranians have been watching the Egyptian revolution very closely, and much hesitation. Now, Iranians are turning their attention to Libya and are similarly losing hope of a democratic future in Libya. For example, Shahriar Siami, a journalist, wrote on his Facebook page: ?Do you mean...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=911&q=1&s=4 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:31:04 +0500 Iranian journalist, Jila Baniyaghob, published the first picture of student activist Amin Niayi Far today on her Facebook, after receiving 30 lashes for insulting the president 15 days ago. Amin was released from Evin prison today. She was welcomed by Iranian journalists and activists. For more information about the lashing, click HERE.  ]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=910&q=1&s=4 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:25:31 +0500 An Op-ed on Raja News, an online news source with close ties to the Iranian regime, stated that ?the Hijab increases the sexual imagination!? This absurd explanation has become a new joke between Iranian online activists. Iranian blogger Alireza Rezai mocked the statement saying, ?Please don?t stimulate our sexual imagination!? with an attached picture of a fully-covered Fatemeh Rajabi, one of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?s most outspoken female fans and the wife of the former chief of the Iranian...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=904&q=1&s=4 Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:15:25 +0500 Iranian journalist, Masih Alinejad, posted the following on her blog and Facebook account ?Take a look at this picture. His name is Artin, and he suffers from human rights abuses in Iran in silence. If I start censoring his picture and voice in order to protect children?s rights, I would do more damage than if I did not share his story at all. Artin is two years-old and the son of two Bahai who are currently imprisoned for trying to teach in Iran?s Bahai Institute, a school that enrolls young...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=897&q=1&s=4 Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:20:43 +0500 Soon after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed ignorance of the lashing of political activists for insulting the president, another student was lashed for the same reason. During the month of October, Amin Niyai Far became the third activist lashed in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Amin, a 22 year-old student at Tehran University, was arrested December 27th, 2009 and sentenced to 30 lashes and three months in prison. He was incarcerated three months ago and will finish his term this...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=895&q=1&s=4 Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:53:04 +0500 A few months ago, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former Iranian president, candidly discussed Iran?s negotiating style with America. This was the first time the former president discussed this topic with Iranian newspapers, making the interview both historic and unique. His revelations are critical to understanding Iranian intentions today and recent diplomatic complexities.   Rafsanjani blamed the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameinei, for severing Iran?s relationship with America during...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=896&q=1&s=4 Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:16:51 +0500 After being held in an Iranian prison for five months for their association with the Baha?i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE), seven Baha'i educators have received prison sentences of four- or five-years, according to Baha'i International Community. The BIHE is an informal community initiative in which Baha'i professors, debarred by the Iranian government from practicing their professions, teach young community members who are banned from attending university. Vahid Mahmoudi and Kamran...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=898&q=1&s=4 Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:33:31 +0500 Famed Iranian blogger, who writes under the pseudonym Masoud Mashhadi, posted the following story on his blog on Monday, October 17th: ?I was reading Khorasan newspaper?s report about a public hanging of four people in Esfehan province today. Their crime was gang rape. The reporter asked a man why he came to witness the scene with his 7 year-old boy and his wife. The man replied: ?I brought my son to see this scene and learn the fate of criminals. I?m educating my son for his own good in the...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=899&q=1&s=4 Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:21:52 +0500 Iran Muammar Gaddafi?s death sparked hope and happiness among Iranians. Ali Hamedani, Iranian reporter, updated his Facebook status, simply asking: ?Who?s next?? Ehsan Norouzi, another journalist said: ?After governing for 40 years, he was trampled to death in his own town. God willing, soon Asad [Syria?s president] and Seyed Ali [Khamenei, Iran?s leader] will have the same fate.? ??? ?? ??? ?????? ?? ?????? ???? ??? ???????? ???? ?? ? ????? ??. ?????? ???? ??? ? ?????? ?? ??? ????? #?????...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=891&q=1&s=4 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:41:31 +0500 According to a report from Kalameh.com, Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr was sentenced to one year in prison and 90 lashes on last Monday (Oct 10th) for performing in an Australian-made film that is critical of the Iranian government. Vafamehr was charged with ?participation in production of a vulgar film? and engaging in ?anti-Sharia conduct,? such as not wearing a hijab head covering and appearing with a shaved head in the film. The film, entitled My Tehran for Sale, has been banned by Iran?s...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=892&q=1&s=4 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 08:42:12 +0500 The largest case of embezzlement in the history of Iran's banking system was recently revealed. The discovery of the theft of close to $3 billion has shaken the financial field around the country, and has been the top topic of discussion in the mass media. Tehran-e Emrooz, the newspaper close to Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bager Ghalibaf, reported in its Wednesday edition that of the $3 billion embezzled, about $2 billion has already been transferred abroad. In the latest development, the case is...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=886&q=1&s=4 Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:59:55 +0500 Iranian officials lashed Peyman Aref, a law student in Tehran University and students? rights activist. Aref was lashed 74 times yesterday, before his release from Evin prison, where he spent the past year. The lashing occurred in front of his wife, who went to welcome her husband from prison. According to the judge, this was supposed to be a symbolic lashing.  The lash was not supposed to injure the prisoner, but intended instead to embarrass him.  This was not the case....]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=883&q=1&s=4 Mon, 10 Oct 2011 07:34:54 +0500 Saudi Arabia: Protests broke out in the Saudi Arabian town of Awamia in the Qataif province over the arrest of two elderly citizens. The authorities detained the senior citizens, not because of any crime they committed, but because they were the parents of a fugitive. One Saudi posted this video of the incident, showing the protest with audio of gunshots in the background. Reportedly, Saudi authorities opened fire on the protesters. Saudi bloggers continue to protest the crackdown in Saudi...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=874&q=1&s=4 Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:03:00 +0500 In the years following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Iran saw one of the largest influxes of emigrants in the world. While many Iranians fled the country to escape the Revolution, war with Iraq, as well as pervasive political turmoil, corruption, and poverty, many returned to their homeland at the invitation of former President Mohammad Khatami. Since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?s ascension to the presidency"and particularly after his notoriously contested second electoral ?victory? the number...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=877&q=1&s=4 Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:26:06 +0500 ]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=873&q=1&s=4 Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:34:09 +0500 A young Iranian girl named Nahal committed suicide on September 28th following her boyfriend to the grave. Her boyfriend, Behnam Ganji, committed suicide on September 16th after his release from prison. Ganji was arrested with his roommate Kohyard Gordarzi, a student activist and blogger, at their home on July 31. Police came in search of Gordarzi, and arrested Ganji without explanation. Behnam spent one week in prison and committed suicide soon after being released. One can only speculate what...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=868&q=1&s=4 Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:36:59 +0500 One Iranian had the chance to freely and anonymously express his opinion of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to an Iranian journalist a few days ago. Masih Alinejad posted a Facebook Status recounting the conversation: ?I called a parliament member today to ask what he thinks about Ahmadinejad?s trip to New York and the new embezzling in Iran.? He replied, ?F--- Ahmadinejad!? I said, ?Clearly, I got the wrong number!? He said, ?Yes.? I asked, ?Why didn?t you say so  from the beginning?? He...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=866&q=1&s=4 Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:53:39 +0500 Iran Following the release of two American hikers in Iran, Niusha Boghrati, asked on Facebook: ?If they were not spies, why did you give them eight years in prison? And, if they were spies, how dare you to release them? It just doesn?t work well together.? Saudi Arabia While Saudi women were granted the right to vote in municipal elections in 2015, a woman was sentenced to 10 lashes for defying the country?s ban on women driving two days later.  Reports surfaced of this sentence having...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=863&q=1&s=4 Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:26:00 +0500 One day Reza Shah Pahlavi, the king of Iran (1925-1941), sent a message to Seyyed Hassan Modarres, a member of parliament (1914-1925), warning him to ?not push my buttons.? Modarres replied, ?First, you should clarify which buttons you mean,? emphasizing that every topic was considered to be a point of contention with the oppressive Pahlavi. This quote remains famous in Iran, and unfortunately, remains applicable to the political situation in Iran, as well. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=862&q=1&s=4 Wed, 28 Sep 2011 06:52:49 +0500 CyberDissident.org?s expert on Iran Solmaz Sharif will discuss the reformist movement in Iran on October 19 at CUNY Graduate Center from 6:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. The symposium will analyze the Arab Spring and the struggle for freedom and democracy in the Middle East. Among the panelists are Moustafa Bayoumi, Associate Professor of English at Brooklyn College and author of How Does it Feel to Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America, Zachary Lockman, Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=864&q=1&s=4 Wed, 28 Sep 2011 06:50:36 +0500 Ali-Reza Mola Soltani was publicly hanged in the city on September 21th of Karaj for the murder of popular athlete Rouhollah Dadashi in July. He was 17 years old. Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and other human rights activists have condemned the execution of the Iranian minor: "Unfortunately, Iran has the highest rate of execution of persons under the age of 18 in the world; this is a disgrace to its establishment," Ebadi told Free Radio Europe. According to FRE, an Iranian...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=854&q=1&s=4 Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:06:41 +0500 Prison officials in Iran lashed Somaye Tohidlou, a PHD student in sociology and a member of Mir Hossien Mosavi?s campaign, 50 times on Wednesday. She was arrested on June 14th, 2009, and spent 70 days in prison. She was then sentenced to one year prison and 50 lashes though the prison sentence was reduced in appeals court. The lashes took place on Wednesday.   Tohidlou announced on her blog: ?Be happy. You wanted to humiliate  me and I confess you did. I felt humiliation in my whole...]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org) http://cyberdissidents.org/bin/content.cgi?ID=850&q=1&s=4 Wed, 14 Sep 2011 08:32:20 +0500 ?My generation never felt the warmth of a friends body; we stealthily kissed, drank, laughed, talked, thought, protested, cried, wished, prayed [...] and chose. All stealthily! My generation stealthily fell in love, man! Cheers to stealthiness which if there wasn?t such a thing, my generation would be extinct by now!? wrote Mohammad Reza Sakhtemangar, an Iranian youth on his Facebook status.   ]]> info@cyberdissidents.org (CyberDissidents.org)