Published on 18 October 2004
19 March 2010 - Press freedom violations recounted in real time (from 1st January 2010)
17 March 2010 - Blogger’s death in detention still unexplained one year later
3 March 2010 - Two newspapers closed, detained journalists under pressure to request forgiveness
Reporters Without Borders welcomed the release on 14 October 2004 of Ali-Reza Jabari, contributor to several newspapers, after more than 18 months in prison.
The worldwide press freedom organisation said that international pressure and a campaign by Chilean author Isabel Allende were responsible for the decision to free Jabari who, despite being more than 60 years old and suffering heart trouble, received 174 lashes in detention.
Isabel Allende had lobbied the highest authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran to secure the ailing journalist’s early release, said Reporters Without Borders.
Jabari was sentenced on 19 April 2003 to four years in prison, 253 lashes and a fine of six million Rials (about 1,000 euros) for "drinking and distributing alcoholic drinks, adultery and incitement to immoral acts", a charge regularly used against secular figures. Jabari is an outspoken commentator who writes for the monthly Adineh and a member of the Iranian Writers Association
Adel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, better known by the pen name Kareem Amer, was arrested on 6 November 2006, for articles published on his blog .
