Akbar Ganji Appeal

Muslim Wakeup:

The International Committee in Support of Akbar Ganji, the Iranian investigative journalist jailed since April 2000 for his expose of security officials' roles in the murder of opposition journalists and for critical comments he made at a Berlin conference, had a full-page ad, printed in yesterday's New York Times, appealing to the United Nations Secretary General to work for his immediate release.

Ganji's health is in critical condition as he undergoes the second month of a hunger strike in protest against his unjust imprisonment.

The letter was signed by dozens of prominent intellectuals and human rights activists, including Ganji's attorney, Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, Noam Chomsky, and Howard Zinn. Other signatories include the Progressive Muslim Union's Hussein Ibish, Omid Safi, and myself, as editor of MWU! You can download the letter [pdf] here.

The letter was signed by an unusual group, including Juan Cole. But it is good to these folks finally speaking out.