Hoder’s Detention Confirmed
January 5th, 2009 — Chris Van BurenThe detention of prominent Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakshan (aka Hoder) has been confirmed. Everyone has been concerned since reports of his arrest were confirmed by friends and family about a month ago. The question was how long and on what charges the Iranian authorities would be holding him.
In 2006, Hoder, who has dual citizenship with Canada, visited Israel. Possibly in connection with this trip and the recent high pressure diplomatic sparring between Iran and Israel, the Iranians now accuse the blogger of espionage. Matching the gravity of this political charge, an Iranian Revolutionary Court (designed to deal with issues of national security) will be taking on the case.
Hoder helped to ignite the Iranian blogosphere, now one of the world’s most vibrant and diverse (see Berkman’s research report on the topic). His blog, an often insightful and incisive voice in Iranian politics, has not been updated since October when he was detained.
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April 19th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
[…] Revolutionary Court. Derakshan, known in Iran as the “Blogfather” is currently being held on charges of spying for […]