New blog

De Groene Amsterdammer (The Green Amsterdammer) is a great periodical, writing intelligently about politics, culture and society.

They have opened a blog for me to contribute to their site with articles about Iran. It will go live tomorrow, but here's a sneak preview:

http://irancentraal.wordpress.com/

Sadly only in Dutch, but I might translate some of the posts later. Spread the word!

Free filmmakers, journalists and bloggers

Some time ago I asked for your help in seeking the release of filmmaker Andrew Berend. Luckily he was released not long after. Here is the mail he sent out:

Wow, I’ve been home from Nigeria for half a year, and feel an update to you all is overdue. My translator Samuel George, my host Joe Bussio, and I are all OK.

Joe has actually left Nigeria, and returned to South Africa. Nigeria can be a stressful place. He’d been there a few years and felt it was time to go home. While not the only factor, I’m sure getting dragged into this mess with the SSS contributed to his decision to leave. I’ll always be grateful for Joe’s kindness and hospitality.

Samuel had to pay a couple more visits to the SSS, but the matter seems to have faded away. Some SSS agents did visit his home not to long ago. They asked him to come in once again, hoping he could provide information about the militants. Samuel has absolutely no connection with the militants, so he had nothing to offer them. Unfortunately, there was never any official resolution to the case. I hope and believe that Samuel won’t face any additional harassment, but there will always be a lingering uncertainty. I’ll always be grateful for Samuel’s integrity.

Meanwhile, I am making steady progress with the film, and will send further updates as I get closer to completion.I’d just like to thank you all again for your support and the actions you took to assist me last September.

---

There are many others who still are not free. Take for instance Kareem Amer, an Egyptian blogger in prison. A recent write up has appeared on the site dedicated to his release:

http://www.freekareem.org/2009/04/10/only-attention-will-keep-imprisoned-bloggers-alive/

Persian Blogs in Danger

First of all, my apologies for being gone for so long. My internet connection at home has been unreliable for a few weeks.

I write now, again, to focus your attention to Arash Kamangir's blog, and particularly his
article about Bluehost (a blog hosting service) scrapping the blogs of Iranians as it fears it's illegal for an American company to deal with Iran and Iranians.

You should definately read his articles, but the gist of it is: Iran is under economic sanctions to pressure the government into reforming the country. In the current political climate the only vehicle of free speech Iranians have are their blogs. To shut down blogs because of the sanctions is helping the Iranian regime rather than hurting it.

- Arash's blog:
- His article on Bluehost: http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1222&language=english

Mid East Youth has an excellent article on keeping attention for imprisoned bloggers:

http://www.mideastyouth.com/2009/04/10/only-attention-will-keep-imprisoned-bloggers-alive/

(apologies if my links don't work, you have to copy paste them to your browser window. this is because of a problem with the computer I'm using to blog on currently)

A blogger dies in prison (Tehran)

Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, an Iranian journalist and blogger dies in the Evin prison. Kamangir.net has a nice write-up:

http://kamangir.net/2009/03/22/no-more-martyrs/

These are truly sad times.

In Defence of Bloggers

Look at this! A great blog in defence of bloggers:

http://committeetoprotectbloggers.org/

The site is filled with links to like-minded blogs and has excellent resources.

In other news: the Dutch Volkskrant magazine will publish a short review tomorrow (Tuesday) of my current musical project. If the text appears online I will post a link to it on my blog.