Free Akbar Ganji

FrontPage Magazine:

"My fallen face today exposes the true character of the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It has become a symbol of the just [struggle] against tyranny. My shattered face and frail body demonstrate the inherent contradictions of a regime in which the concepts of justice and tyranny have been transposed...”

These are the words of Iranian political prisoner Akbar Ganji, from a letter he wrote to the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat. Ganji has been arrested and imprisoned numerous times for agitating for freedom of the press and other civil rights in Iran. As he explains in his letter, he is neither sick, nor on a hunger strike.

His dramatic weight loss and gaunt figure are the result of torture aimed at getting him to give up the dream of free speech and liberty in Iran. According to Human Rights Watch, he was arrested in April 2000 for "acting against national security." READ MORE

"Iranian officials imprisoned Ganji shortly after the publication of articles he wrote documenting the involvement of high-ranking officials in the murder of intellectuals in the 1990s."

But Ganji has not given in to their hateful tactics and demands. He is a true hero in the fight for civil rights in a country that knows nothing but tyranny and oppression. We at FrontPage Magazine join President Bush and the rest of the free world in calling for Ganji’s release and full pardon. For the world to know freedom and peace, men like Ganji must be allowed to speak.