One of my Facebook friends, Iranian photographer Amir Sadeghi, was arrested yesterday at the office of Farhang-e-Ashti newspaper, his place of work, for having published images of the security clampdown on protesters last December 27th.
His Facebook page is gone.
His family doesn't know where the authorities have taken him.
Amir has worked for website
Tehran24 and blogs at
TehranLive.org, which today appears to have been co-opted by authorities. The photos and sentiments posted there now are not Amir's.
This is not the first time Amir has been imprisoned for posting photographs of demonstrations. When protesters first burst onto the streets of Tehran
last June, Amir was there to record his country's history. But it seems his government doesn't want its actions documented.
Amir's friends have created a Facebook group in hopes of helping to
Free Amir Sadeghi. I've joined; you can, too. It's clear the Iranian authorities are web savvy; they use Twitter and Facebook to monitor their own people.
If I were living in Iran right now I don't know if I'd be brave enough to do what Amir and those other journalists did. But I know the world needs these heroes.
Most of us don't live in Iran. From where we sit we can be brave enough to stand up to the authorities. We can show solidarity for Amir and the other (so far)
65 journalists in Iranianian prisons. We can show solidarity with the Iranian people in their stand for freedom--freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of self-determination.
The windows and doors have been boarded up, but one of the coolest things about it is it's still there.
Closed and in need of repair, but still there.
It was built in the 1920s and still bears many of its art deco details.
The blimp that flew by while we were there advertised "tickets to fly!"
Go ahead and read the links. It's a pretty sure bet Amelia Earhart walked these halls.
