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Help free imprisoned journalists

Leading press freedom and free expression groups are asking for your support to help free imprisoned journalists, writers and bloggers in Iran. Since the disputed June elections, there has been a brutal crackdown on dissent. In response, a coalition of free expression organisations has launched a petition drive calling for the release of those imprisoned. More dissidents are in prison in Iran than in any other country in the world: out of at least 60 political prisoners, 47 of them are journalists. Generally, prisoners are held incommunicado and some are tortured.

"I know my jailers in Iran were aware of the depth of international concern," said "Newsweek" correspondent Maziar Bahari, who was jailed for 118 days in Iran last year and beaten almost every day. "We need to raise a similar outcry on behalf of the more than 60 journalists, writers and bloggers jailed there today. Adding your name to this petition will help us deliver the message that people around the world are watching."

The "Our Society Will Be a Free Society" campaign, a reference to a pledge made by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on the eve of the 1979 Revolution, is gathering signatures for an online petition to be sent to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on 20 March, the Iranian New Year.

This campaign is a joint initiative of Index on Censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), International PEN, PEN American Center, English PEN, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), ARTICLE19, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the International Publishers Association (IPA).

To sign the petition, please see:
Our Society Will Be A Free Society