Mojtaba (Madyar) Saminejad ( fa, مجتبی سمیع نژاد, born 30 September 1980 in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

) is an Iranian blogger and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

. He studied

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

at the Central Tehran Branch of

Islamic Azad University The Islamic Azad University (IAU; fa, دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی, ''Dāneshgāh-e Āzād-e Eslāmi'') is a private university system headquartered in Tehran, Iran. It is one of the largest comprehensive systems of universities, colleg ...

. He is the president of Shahr-e Khorshid publications ( fa, انتشارات شهر خورشید) and editor of ''Ferdowsi'' magazine.

Activities

As a student, Saminejad was a writer and blogger. In 2004

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

listed his as one of the ''Best blogs defending freedom of expression''. Saminejad's initial arrest on November 1, 2004, followed the publication on his blog of the arrests of three other bloggers. He was released on bail on January 27, 2005, relaunched his blog at a new address, and was promptly re-arrested on February 12, 2005. His bail was doubled to $125,000, which he could not pay. He was charged with "insulting the prophets" (punishable by the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

under Article 512 of the Iranian Islamic

penal code A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...

), "endangering national security", and "insulting the Supreme Leader" (the

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

of Iran). On June 2, 2005, he was found guilty of "insulting the Supreme Leader", and sentenced to two years' imprisonment by Judge Saadat of Revolutionary Court 13. On June 28, 2005, he was found not guilty of "insulting the prophets". One month later he was sentenced to an extra ten months in prison for incitement to "immorality". During his arrest, Saminejad was allegedly held in solitary confinement for 88 days and subjected to beatings and

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

. He was taken in handcuffs to sit his exams at Tehran's Azad University on 21 January 2006. After 21 months, on September 13, 2006 he was released from prison, and started blogging again. He also works with an Iranian human-rights group, Human Rights Activists in Iran, which gathers information about how Iranians are repressed. In 2009 he signed an open letter of apology posted to Iranian.com along with 266 other Iranian academics, writers, artists, journalists about the Iranian

persecution of Baháʼís Persecution of Baháʼís occurs in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Baháʼí Faith originated and where one of the largest Baháʼí populations in the world is located. The origins of the persecution stem from a variety of Ba ...

Works

* Fiction ** 2004 ''Ambiguous People'' ( fa, آدم های مبهم), a short

surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...

story in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Awards and honors

* 2004 – ''Best blogs defending freedom of expression'' (Reporters Without Borders)

References

External links

Mojtaba Saminejad's current blog

Saminejad's former blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saminejad, Mojtaba Iranian bloggers Iranian journalists 1980 births Living people Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch alumni

Activities

Works

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links