thanks Barry, critical stuff - all bloggers should be able to see themselves in this predicament of these two, and never take for granted the freedoms that prevent us from suffering the same fate

Here is Mojtaba's blog.

I know it is kind of redneck to say this, but it is really cool to see a blog that looks like any other blog, but is in a completely different alphabet.

I'm sure that some people might see this campaign and claim that it is some kind of pre-invasion PR attack dreamed up by Karl Rove. But I disagree with that line of thinking completely.

These guys are really in prison just for doing a blog like all the rest of us. It is time for those of us whose mantra during Iraq has been "there are better ways to solve our differences" to put our money where our mouth is.

Disclaimer: I am well aware I am a bad, bad, man.

But when I first saw these headlines on several group blog sites, I mis-read them as "Free Mojito Day" for bloggers (and I guess you get some sort of sandwich with your drink).

Not that the ruling powers in Iran give a damn about what I think, anymore than the ruling powers in Washington or Bejing, but sending an email and posting an article is the least I can do, and we all know how effective that is.

Jim, free mojitos wouldn't be a bad thing, either. And sending an e-mail and posting an article may not sound like much...

But don't entirely discount the value of international pressure. It has arguably produced results in Iran already, with judges showing relative leniency in some earlier blogging cases, and as a veteran of past Amnesty International campaigns, I know that some of the toughest and most oppressive regimes in the world have been shamed into better behavior by international attention.

It doesn't always work--in fact, it doesn't work nearly as often as it should--but it works sometimes and is worth the effort.

Thanks for participating.

Thad,

Thanks for posting the link to Mojtada's blog. Nothing remotely redneck about being fascinated by another alphabet, particularly one as beautiful as Farsi.

And there's nothing Rovian about this effort. Reporters Without Borders (http://rsf.org), hardly a friend of the Bush administration, has been covering the Iran blogger crackdown for months now, fearlessly and thoroughly.

You could also mention the case of Canadian citizen and journalist, Zahra Kazemi who was tortured and murdered in Iran. The government of Iran has so far refused to return her body to her family in Canada.

Apparently, you can contact them via the internet here.

Yes, the Kazemi case is particularly disgusting--security forces beat her to death in custody, etc.

Reporters Without Borders has also been covering this pretty heavily, e.g. here:

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=12533

Important issue... so easy to take it for granted. Thanks for highlighting here.