Student Blogger Missing, May Have Been Arrested

Reporters Without Borders:

Reporters Without Borders today said it was “very worried” about Abed Tavanchech, a blogger and student at Tehran’s Amirkabir polytechnic university, who has been missing since 26 May and may well have been arrested after posting photos and reports about the demonstrations taking place at his university for the past few weeks.

“Tavanchech is a courageous blogger who may well have fallen prey to the government’s crackdown on the student pro-democracy movement,” the press freedom organisation said. “His work nonetheless shows that Iranian civil society is dynamic and is resisting government censorship and authoritarianism.” READ MORE

Tavanchech has been out of contact with his family and friends since 26 May and cannot be reached on his mobile phone. He had participated in the rioting between pro-democracy youths and the government-controlled Basig student militias that recently broke out on his campus.

Many photos of these incidents have been posted on his blog, called “In the name of man, justice and truth”. His last message, posted the day he went missing, includes the text of a letter by Nasser Zarafshan, a famous lawyer - now in prison - who acted for the families of intellectuals and journalists who were murdered during a crackdown in 1998.

Two other bloggers Arash Sigarshi and Mojtaba Saminejad, are currently in prison in Iran.

We reported this several days ago.