By: Ronald Koven
WPFC, March 16, 2010
In 1978, on the eve of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini told an interviewer: “Our society will be a free society, and all the elements of oppression, cruelty and force will be destroyed.” More journalists and writers are now in prison in Iran than in any other country in the world. As you are no doubt aware, there has been a continuing brutal crackdown on press freedom since the disputed elections last summer.
Dear Colleagues,
We are writing to ask you to sign a petition in support of a campaign in which the World Press Freedom Committee has joined with other press freedom groups for the release of journalists and writers imprisoned in Iran.
In 1978, on the eve of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini told an interviewer: “Our society will be a free society, and all the elements of oppression, cruelty and force will be destroyed.”
More journalists and writers are now in prison in Iran than in any other country in the world. As you are no doubt aware, there has been a continuing brutal crackdown on press freedom since the disputed elections last summer.
In view of this extreme situation, international press freedom groups are launching a joint international campaign that will run from the anniversary of the revolution on 11 February to Iranian New Year on 20 March. We urge you to sign this petition which we will be sending to Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad, as well as leading Iranian ministers.
We are not only concerned at the scale of arrests and detentions, but at the treatment of detainees. There are veery credible reports of torture and solitary confinement.
Please find the petition on Facebook here: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/398?m=621bc82a
You can find out more about the campaign at www.oursocietywillbeafreesociety.org and sign the petition there if you are not a Facebook member. Thank you for your support.
Ronald Koven, European Representative, WPFC
EN: Mr. Koven, as the Wahington Post’s Bureau Chief in Paris, at the time, was on the Plane that carried Mr. Khomeini to Iran.