Iran The Biggest Prison For Journo’s And Bloggers In Middle East

ZBH C.EO Henry Muradzikwa was in Iran recently, accompanying President Mugabe. According to press reports Muradzikwa was there to possibly buy some equipment for the cash-strapped super inefficient ZBH. After the visit, which naturally was given a lot of attention by the state-run media, the two countries promised to develop closer ties and we suppose, team up against the west.So the team decided to find out what kind of a country Iran is for journalists, As you know a person ‘s character can also be judged by the friends on they keep. Condoleeza Rice has decribed Iran and Zimbabwe as some of the outposts of tyranny in the world.

According to the 2006 Reporters Without Borders Iran ranks 162 nd out of 168 countries. Zimbabwe, is ranked 140 th.
This means Iran is even worse than Zimbabwe in terms of press freedom.

Excerpt from Reporters Without Borders.

The country remains the Middle East’s biggest prison for journalists and bloggers, with 13 jailed during 2005. Five were still being held at the start of 2006. Threats, interrogation, summonses, arrests and arbitrary detention are sharply increasing.
Journalists can often only stay out of prison by paying very high bail. The accession to power of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not improved the situation.

Journalist Akbar Ganji was held in solitary confinement during the year at Teheran’s Evin prison despite his failing health. He now weighs only about 50 kgs as a result of a two-month hunger-strike he began in July. Growing pressure by the international community for his release has still not had any effect.

Other journalists were released but remained under close surveillance. They included Taghi Rahmani, Reza Alijani and Hoda Saber, who were freed in June after two years. Their trials are still in progress however and they can be returned to jail at any time. The regime also uses bans on leaving the country as a weapon against journalists, notably Issa Saharkize, Ali Mazroui and Emadoldin Baghi, who was not allowed to go to France to receive a prize from the official French National Human Rights Commission on 12 December.

Area : 1,648,200 sq.km.
Population : 69,515,000.
Language : Persian.
Head of state : Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Supreme Guide).
Head of government : President Mahmoud Ahmadinedjad.

Meanwhile the BBC reports that global web log 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 Tuesday to the "Free Mojtaba and Arash Day".

Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad are both in prison in Iran.
The group has a list of actions which it says bloggers can take, including writing to local Iranian embassies.
It is calling on the blogsphere - the name for the worldwide community of bloggers - to do what it can to help raise awareness of the plight of Mojtaba and Arash as well as other "cyber-dissidents".