Friday, November 30, 2007

Iranian blogger in bow-wow row

Under some interpretations of Islamic law, dogs are considered unclean animals. (N.B.: As with many aspects of the Holy Quran, there is considerable, complex debate over this. You can read examples here, here and here.)

A story first appeared in The Guardian on November 20 revealing the use of bomb-sniffing security dogs by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's security detail. Now, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is reporting that Iranian blogger Reza Valizadeh is being detained by authorities after blogging about the purchase of 4 German dogs by the president's security staff.

Arash Kamangir reports on Arabisto.com that Valizadeh is being held on charges of "acting against public security as well as disruption of public opinion."

From the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty report:

Valizadeh's arrest comes two days after dozens of Iranian journalists and intellectuals issued a statement to protest the jailing of journalists who are critical of the Iranian government.

One of the signatories, journalist Issa Saharkhiz, told Radio Farda on November 26 that a government crackdown on journalists has intensified in recent months. "There are some who are sitting and thinking of ways to fill up Iran's prisons. Unfortunately, we now see this not only in Tehran but also in the provinces," Saharkhiz said.

Saharkhiz added that journalists and media workers have lost their jobs as a result, and society has been limited to a "single voice."

7 comments:

Mr. Woolf said...

It makes me exceedingly glad to live in a nation where we are free to speak our mind. Iran seems to be a very serious threat.

M.Muzahid said...

Religion and Politics shouldn't mix.

Unfortunately, It is that mix that leads to war in the first place.

Rajiv Thind said...

So in other words, Iranian government is giving employment to dogs and putting people in jail. This sounds worse than dystopia.

The Recovering Liberal said...

Why is a strict interpretation of the Koran considered misinterpretation? Just because many liberal muslims take a more civilized view of the world doesn't mean the rest of them are misinterpreting the Koran.

In Christianity there are those who don't take the Bible literally. Should they say that those who do [take it literally] are misinterpreting the Bible and are not real Christians? No.

Anonymous said...

interesting stuff

The Recovering Liberal said...

Wrong, I know and talk to students in Iran, and they are very discontented
but afraid of being punished for speaking up. Please don't spread ignorance
or lies (you pick).

The Recovering Liberal said...

Wrong, I know and talk to students in Iran, and they are very discontented
but afraid of being punished for speaking up. Please don't spread ignorance
or lies (you pick).