Free Mojtaba and Arash Day
The global web blog community is being called into action to lend support to two imprisoned Iranian bloggers.
The month-old Committee to Protect Bloggers’ is asking those with blogs to dedicate their sites on 22 February to the “Free Mojtaba and Arash Day”.
Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad are both in prison in Iran.
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February 22nd, 2005 at 10:53 pm
I concur, lets also lend support to the victims of US injustice at Guantanamo Bay.
February 23rd, 2005 at 12:14 am
You’re an idiot Stephen.
February 23rd, 2005 at 12:39 am
Nice Murray.
You embody the long-suffering, honest and honourable right-winger who never attacks people personally but sticks to their arguments.
There have been more than a few people released from Guantanamo who have been obviously innocent, the Americans arrested them without evidence and without due process.
The Idiocy is in burying your head in the sand.
Murray, Human Rights are being abused in America as they are in Iran. If you hold Iran accountable, hold America accountable.
Unless you have some Nationalist/Racist agenda that is either anti Muslim or Pro American.
February 23rd, 2005 at 9:06 am
Stephen, the main difference between Iran and Guantanamo Bay is the level of secrecy. We know much about the Bay but squat about political prisoners in Iran including what ultimately happens to them. I’m not a fan of holding people without trial however we need to keep things in perspective.
February 23rd, 2005 at 10:24 am
The day America fly’s planes into civilians I’ll lift the idiot label.
And under the Geneva convention those in Gitmo have NO rights other than to be shot out of hand after establishing they were taken under arms out of uniform.
The day cutting innocent peoples heads off as a publicity stunt is morally equivalent to making some guy wear panties on his head I’ll trade my cow in for some magic beans.
The day America beheads a girl for daring to have had sex you’ll know that Islam has come to town and people like you have gotten their PC way.
Happily I’ll be long dead before that happens.
February 23rd, 2005 at 11:52 am
We are talking about two bloggers who are imprisoned, presumably wrongly.
More than a few of those at Gunatanamo are NOT battlefield detainees, but have been arrested based on evidence supplied by other local people.
They then get released, without compensation, when the Americans realise they were just arrested because someone had an agenda against them back home.
There are lots of cases like this, the Taxi driver who got arrested at a checkppoint, for no obvious reason, spent 3 months at Guantanamo and was sent back.
The guy who ended up at Gitmo, because, and apparently the group of soldiers who arrested him recorded this: “Suspect not found at home. Arrested Neighbour instead”.
The Americans have arrested innocent people in amongst the guilty and blatently not given them their rights, and that makes them a committer of injustice.
To then turn on Cuba for arresting dissidents, or Iran, is plain hypocrisy.
Now we should hold all of those countries to account, but your plainly ideological bent, that America should be able to commit crimes as long as they are slightly better than the Nations they are about to invade, is puerile and degenerative.`
February 23rd, 2005 at 12:01 pm
Stephen Cooper, by your own words do you confirm your status as an idiot. How many wrongfully imprisoned people can you point to who were “released after three months” by Saddam’s regime, from Iran, from Syria, form Cuba, by the PLO? You really don’t get it, do you?
February 23rd, 2005 at 12:42 pm
“your plainly ideological bent, that America should be able to commit crimes as long as they are slightly better than the Nations they are about to invade, is puerile and degenerative.”
You really don’t get it do you? Really Adolf, you have come up with some good arguments, but you America-philes suddenly become incoherent whenever the US’s shortcomings are mentioned
February 23rd, 2005 at 1:06 pm
And in there rush to shame and punish the US, AmericaPhobes end up supporting people, regimes and ideas they would normally find repugnant such as Saddam, Fedel etc.
February 23rd, 2005 at 1:09 pm
Stephen – the two Iranians were imprisoned merely for blogging their views. I think that is terrible, and support anyone who is imprisoned just for exercising free speech which is not advocating violence etc.
The issues around G Bay are very complicated and not solved by slogans. The US Supreme Court has made some good decisions in this area and the US justice system is dealing with them, albeit too slowly.
The difference between the two is that Iran’s justice system is working as designed – to jail people for free speech.
February 23rd, 2005 at 1:26 pm
Stephen Cooiper now you confirm yourself as an illiterate idiot. Wrong I may be from time to time but incoherent I think not. Learn to think first, friend.
February 23rd, 2005 at 7:53 pm
settle..settle now….esp you adolph
that’s better.
how about a reality check for you all.
you have this image of these lonely struggling bloggers up against the omnipotent and cruel iranian authorities; who are suppressing free speech.
just to put this into context, iran has over 100,000 bloggers, (iraq?,about 50).
farsi is the fourth most used language in blogging.
thought you might need to know that.
cheers
February 24th, 2005 at 8:31 am
If you read my blog you would have seen the post where I explain what I think is the difference between the US Guantanamo bay victims and the Iranian bloggers.
I essentially agree with you, but I am just extremely sceptical about your notion that “America will right itself” through its court system.
The Bush administration is responisble for this, it gives all human rights abusers a precedent they can point to whenever the US’ supporters become holier than thou.
February 24th, 2005 at 8:36 am
Iraqis imprisoned for writing a blog? 0
Iraqis likely to be imprisoned for writing a blog? 0
Whats your point phul?
2 out of 100,000 isnt bad? How many before it becomes bad? How many of those blogs are at the same time anti-theocracy AND signed with real names?
“lonely struggling bloggers up against the omnipotent and cruel iranian authorities; who are suppressing free speech”
Lets parse this, shall we?
“lonely struggling bloggers” – irrelevant, I only quoted it for context
“against the omnipotent and cruel iranian authorities” – - NEWS FLASH – - This just in, the Iranian system of (Islamist) governance is NOT cruel and the nations religious leaders do not exert a high degree of control over the entire poputlation.
“who are suppressing free speech” – It sure looks like suppression of free speech to me but for a second opinion lets ask my 6 year old nephew……. yep he said that imprisoning people for something they say (he even said “unless they are saying to kill people”) IS suppression of free speech.
So there you have it. A 6 year old boy has a clearer understanding of the concept of free speech than you phul. Sad.
February 24th, 2005 at 8:51 am
It is only a precedent if you buy into moral relativism, which most conservatives dont. So the precedent is a creation of the left, stemming from liberal guilt.
“Oh, we in the US held people we considered a possible terrorist threat or that may have been involved in the murder of Iraqi citizens without trial on a tropical island. We showed them breasts and denied their every whim. Therefore we have no moral authority to criticise mass murdering fuck heads.”
February 24th, 2005 at 2:14 pm
kumble, kumble, kumble, you’re frothing.
i’m just trying to add some more context; not declaring, hand on heart, unswerving devotion to the iranian political/religous leaders and all their works. (you’re such an absolutist)
i thought that there being so many bloggers, and iran having such a low average age, that this bodes well for the future democratisation of information and life in iran from within.
and if you think you have “free speech” here, you are sadly mistaken.
try saying/publishing anything about anyone and then defy any subsequent court order to cease and desist, and see where you end up.
“..Therefore we have no moral authority to criticise mass murdering fuck heads….”
are you talking about bush’s senior and junior and their foreign policy excursions?
cheers
February 24th, 2005 at 3:57 pm
“that this bodes well for the future democratisation of information”
Then surely you would agree that this sets an unfortunate precedent, does not appear incongruent with Islamist culture and will lead to fewer people excercising their freedom of speech for fear of the consequences.
Free speech does not equal freedom to slander.
It would be unfair for someone to be able to go around lying about you. Where you have o deal with the possibly severebegative consequences and having no legal recourse. You will not be forced to desist unless you are unable to prove what you are saying is true or unless it breaches another persons privacy (and will do them considerable harm).
“are you talking about bush’s senior and junior and their foreign policy excursions?”
Obviously not.
February 26th, 2005 at 9:01 pm
Check out the amount of filtering that bloggers in .cn have to put up with.
http://redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=11164&hed=Beijing%e2%80%99s+blog+problem