A plea for Kaveh Taheri, an imprisoned blogger in Iran

(May 2, 2013) – According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) ranks second globally in the number of journalists who are imprisoned for their work. 

Kaveh Taheri, a 31 year old blogger from Shiraz, is one such individual.  His sister, Laleh Taheri, provided a video message and written statement to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) on Thursday, April 18, 2013 about her brother’s arrest and his current situation.

According to Ms. Taheri, her brother was arrested on the morning of Sunday, September 23, 2012 in connection with his blog, titled Pouyesh.  The Iranian authorities later charged Mr. Taheri with endangering national security and other allegations but Ms. Taheri insists:

“My brother is a freelance blogger and has not done anything wrong other than expressing his personal ideas through his weblog.”

Since his arrest, Mr. Taheri has been detained in “Pelak-e 100”, a detention center operated by the Ministry of Intelligence and located on Sepah Street in Shiraz, and imprisoned in Adelabad prison in Shiraz.  While in custody, Mr. Taheri has reportedly been held in solitary confinement, subjected to psychological torture, threatened with rape by other prisoners and forced to give false confessions that were taped by the Iranian authorities.

Now, in her video plea for her brother, Ms. Taheri says:

“My family and I urge the immediate and unconditional release of my brother, Kaveh Taheri.”