Akbar Ganji

Akbar Ganji (PerB| اکبر گنجی , born 31 January, 1960 in tehran) is an Iranian journalist and writer. He has been described as a "wildly popular pro-democracy journalist" who has crossed press censorship "red lines" regularly, and received "death threats from government-affiliated thugs almost daily. A supporter of the Islamic revolution as a youth, he became dissenchanted in the mid-1990s and served time in Tehran's Evin Prison from 2001 to 2006 after publishing a series of stories on the murder of dissident authors known as the Chain Murders of Iran. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4819440.stm BBC News, 18 March 2006, Iranian dissident freed from jail ] ] While in prison he issued a manifesto which established him as the first "prominent dissident, believing Muslim and former revolutionary" to call for a replacement of Iran's with "a secular democracy." [Ebadi, Shirin, "Iran Awakening", by Shirin Ebadi with Azadeh Moaveni, Random House, New York, 2006, p.193]

Ganji has won several international awards for his work, including the World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award [ [http://www.payvand.com/news/06/jun/1047.html Prominent Iranian Journalist Receives Press Freedom Award In Moscow ] ] , Canadian Journalists for Free Expression's International Press Freedom Award, the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, [ [http://martinennalsaward.org/en/press/2006-10-10.html Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders] ] and the John Humphrey Freedom Award.

Early life

Ganji grew up in a devout and impoverished family in south Tehran. Active in the Islamist anti-Shah forces at a "relatively early age", he served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps during the Iran–Iraq War and joined the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic. He holds a Masters degree in Communications. [http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/akbarganji/akbarganjicv.pdf]

In 1994-5 Ganji became disenchanted with the regime. "I saw a fascism and political tyranny emerging in Iran. Anyone who asked questions was branded `anti-revolutionary` and `against Iran`." [Molavi, Afshin, "The Soul of Iran", Norton, 2005, p.156] He quit the Guard to become an investigative journalist. Shortly thereafter he gained fame and ran afoul of Islamic authorities by "exposing the role of high officials in sanctioning the murder of liberal dissidents." [ [http://cmes.berkeley.edu/newsletter_files/spring2007newsletter.pdf UC Berkeley, CMES Newsletter. Spring 2007, Akbar Ganji visits Berkeley] ]

Investigation of the Chain Murders of Iran

Ganji has written extensively as a journalist in a series of reformist newspapers, many of which were shut down by the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Possibly Ganji's most famous work was a series of articles in Saeed Hajjarian's "Sobh Emrouz" daily about the 1998 murders of dissident authors known as the Chain Murders of Iran. Akbar Ganji referred to the perpetrators of the killings with code names such as "Excellency Red Garmented" and their "Excellencies Gray" and the "Master Key". [http://www.iranmania.com/news/currentaffairs/features/dissidentmurders/default.asp Iranmania, The Dissident Murders ] ]

In December 2000, after his arrest (see below), Akbar Ganji announced the "Master Key" to the chain murders was former Intelligence Minister Hojjatoleslam Ali Fallahian. He "also denounced by name some senior clerics, including Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi for having encouraged or issued fatwas, or religious orders for the assassinations." [ [http://www.iran-press-service.com/articles_2000/dec_2000/ganji_named_fallahian_11200.htm GANJI Iran Press Service, Dec 2000, IDENTIFIED FALLAHIAN AS THE "MASTER KEY" IN CHAIN MURDERS ] ] Conservatives have attacked Ganji and denied his claim.

Collections of his articles appeared in books, notably, "The Dungeon of Ghosts" and "The Red Eminence, The Grey Eminences" focusing on the involvement of the former President of Iran, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and his Minister of Intelligence, Ali Fallahian, in the chain murders.

Imprisonment

Ganji took part in a conference in Berlin held by the [http://www.boell.de/ Heinrich Boell Foundation] under the title "Iran after the elections" held in the wake of the Majlis elections of February 2000 which resulted in a huge victory by reformist candidates. The gathering was termed "anti-Islamic" and "anti-revolutionary" by Iranian state TV, IRIB, which broadcast part of the conference on 18 April 2000. He was arrested on April 22 2000, accused of having "damaged national security" and initially sentenced to ten years followed by five years internal exile, which meant he would be kept in a specific city other than Tehran and could not leave the country. On 15 May 2001 an appeal court reduced his 10-year sentence to six months and overturned his additional sentence of five years' internal exile. However, the Tehran prosecutor, challenged the appeal court decision and brought new charges against him in connection with newspaper articles he had written prior to April 2000, and his possession of photocopies of foreign newspapers. On 16 July 2001 he was sentenced to six years imprisonment on charges of "collecting confidential information harmful to national security and spreading propaganda against the Islamic system".

Ganji was on a hunger strike for more than 80 days from 19 May 2005 until early August 2005 [ [http://www.ifex.org/fr/content/view/full/66875 IFEX, 25 mai 2005, Imprisoned journalist Akbar Ganji launches hunger strike] ] except for a 12-day period of leave he was granted on May 30 2005 ahead of the ninth presidential elections on 17 June 2005. His hunger strike ended after 50 days when "doctors warned he would sustain irreparable brain damage, and he relented." Ebadi, Shirin, "Iran Awakening", by Shirin Ebadi with Azadeh Moaveni, Random House New York, 2006, p.194] Many Iranians had not heard of the hunger strike due to press censorship and heavy security and information quarantine in Milad hospital in Tehran. He is represented by a group of lawyers, including Dr. Yousef Molaei, Abdolfattah Soltani (who was arrested and put in solitary confinement in 2005 on unknown charges), and the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Shirin Ebadi. While on hunger strike Ganji wrote two letters to the free people of the world: [ [http://freeganji.blogspot.com/2005/07/letter-to-free-people-of-world.html Letter to the Free People of the World, 1 July 2005] ] [ [http://freeganji.blogspot.com/2005/07/second-letter-to-free-people-of-world.html Second Letter to the Free People of the World, 15 July 2005] ] .

On 12 July 2005 the White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in a statement that President George W. Bush called on Iran to release Ganji "immediately and unconditionally… Mr. Ganji is sadly only one victim of a wave of repression and human rights violations engaged in by the Iranian regime… His calls for freedom deserve to be heard. His valiant efforts should not go in vain. The president calls on all supporters of human rights and freedom, and the United Nations, to take up Ganji's case and the overall human rights situation in Iran… Mr. Ganji, please know that as you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you," the statement went on.

In his recent leave in June 2005, Ganji participated in interviews with several news agencies, criticizing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, and asking for his office to be put to public vote [http://roozonline.com/08interview/007534.shtml] . This led to a ruling by Saeed Mortazavi, the general prosecutor of Tehran, to arrest him again because of "illegal interviews". He returned to prison voluntarily on June 11, 2005 and started another hunger strike.

Ganji was released from prison in poor health on 18 March 2006, after serving the full term of his six-year sentence, according to his family and various count-downs set up on many Iranian weblogs. At the same time, the deputy prosecutor of Tehran, Mahmoud Salarkia, claimed that 10 days remained from his sentence due to unaccounted days of absence, and that he had been granted a leave for the Persian New Year. The claim has apparently been dropped since.

Views

Ganji opposes the theocracy of the Islamic Republic. He has been quoted as saying "Our revolution was an act for freedom, but we did not follow through properly. We ended up with tyranny and fascism."

Ganji's writings in prison were smuggled out and widely distributed, especially on the web. Most notably he wrote a "Republican Manifesto" in six chapters in March 2002, laying out the basis of his proposal for a fully-fledged democratic republic for Iran. In particular he argued that all elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran must be boycotted. He later wrote a second book [ [http://freeganji.blogspot.com/2005/06/republican-manifesto-ii.html 18 June 2005 Republican Manifesto II ] ] of his Republican Manifesto in May 2005, ahead of the ninth Presidential elections in Iran, specifically arguing for a complete boycott of the presidential elections.

In April 2008, Ganji's first English language book appeared from Boston Review Books/MIT Press: "The Road to Democracy in Iran", with an introduction by Joshua Cohen and Abbas Milani. [ [http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11423 The Road to Democracy in Iran] , The MIT Press]

Iran's "democratic" voice

Ganji opposes the United States 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation. [ [http://bostonreview.net/BRwebonly/ganji.php? Changing Iran: An Interview with Akbar Ganji] , Boston Review]

In 2006, Akbar Ganji started a tour to visit world leading philosophers, theorists, human rights activists. His goal has been said to be introducing Iranian intellectual movements and democratic circles to world leading thinkers. He met many famous figures as Richard Rorty, Noam Chomsky, Anthony Giddens, David Hild and Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt.

While in the United States in July 2006, Ganji declined an invitation [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5211840.stm BBC, 25 July 2006, Iran activist 'snubs White House' ] ] to meet with White House officials, citing his belief that current US policies were not helping promote democracy in Iran. He was quoted as saying, "You cannot bring democracy to a country by attacking it". He also added that the war in Iraq was promoting Islamic fundamentalism and hurting movements towards democracy in the region.

Ganji declared that his role was as a dissident and journalist, rather than the official voice for a specific opposition party or faction within Iran, which he explained was one reason for his refusal to meet with US political leaders and officeholders.

During his visit he criticized the Iraq war, asserting that rather than undermining the current Iranian regime it had instead bolstered its capacity to repress and terrorize its population.

We do not want the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, this is our problem. Any intervention by any foreign power would bring charges of conspiracy against us... What has happened in Iraq did not support our movement in any significant way." [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13894080/ MSNBC, July. 16, 2006, Iran dissident says Iraq war not helping cause] ]

He also staged a hunger strike outside of the United Nations headquarters in order to highlight the plight of Iranian political prisoners, and to bring international attention to the oppressive conditions felt within Iran.

Awards and honors

* PEN America, Honorary member (2000)
* Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, International Press Freedom Award (2000)
* The Middle East Studies Association of North America, MESA Academic Freedom Prize (2005)
* Press Freedom Award, Italy (2005)
* World Association of Newspapers, Golden Pen of Freedom (2006)
* Honorary citizen of the city of Florence, Italy (2006)
* Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (2006)
* National Press Club, John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award (2006)

See also

*Defenders of Human Rights Center
*History of political Islam in Iran
*Human rights in Islamic Republic of Iran
*2nd of Khordad Movement
*Saeed Hajjarian
*Abdolkarim Soroush
*Abbas Amir-Entezam
*Mehrangiz Kar

References

External links

* [http://releaseganji.net Release Ganji! Campaign] , a portal for news on Akbar Ganji and efforts for releasing him
* [http://cjfe.org/protestlets/2005/19072005iran.html CJFE Calls for Ganji's Release]
* [http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/67371/ Ganji and other dissidents silenced ahead of elections] , IFEX
* [http://releaseganji.net/hostednews.php#533 113 Iranian Academics Urge Ayatollah Shahroudi to Take Action for Ganji's Release]
* [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/07/14/iran11318.htm Ganji in hunger strike] , Human Rights Watch: Leading Dissident’s Life in Danger.
* [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/07/9E3B744B-37C1-44C2-92AB-983A2295E404.html Iran: Radio Farda Interview With Dissident Akbar Ganji]
* [http://freeganji.blogspot.com/2005/07/second-letter-to-free-people-of-world.html Second Letter written on the 30th day of hunger strike]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4715439.stm BBC profile]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5211840.stm Iran activist 'snubs White House'] BBC article on Ganji declining a White House invitation
* [http://www.nysun.com/article/35817 Ganji's Next Strike Likely at U.N.]
* [http://bostonreview.net/BR32.3/ganji.html The View from Tehran] from May/June 2007 Boston Review
* [http://marzeporgohar.org/index.php?l=1&cat=17&scat=30&artid=1262 Regime intelligence official admits to fabricating opposition figures] August 13, 2007
* [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20838 The US and the Plight of the Iranians - A letter to Ban Ki-moon published in the "NY Review of Books" (Volume 54, Number 18)]
* [http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people6/Ganji/ganji-con0.html Conversations with History, Islam and Democracy]
* [http://www.bostonreview.net/BRwebonly/ganji.php Changing Iran: May 2008 Interview with Akbar Ganji (interviewed by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, Associate Editor of Boston Review Books)]
* [http://maghal.com/bank/?p=370 islam]