Sep 19, 2005 - Fresh clashes rocked, yesterday night, the several areas of the southwestern and oil rich City of Ahwaz. The most violent actions took place in the Shelang-Abad and Malachieh areas. Angry crowd retaliated to militiamen's brutal attacks by throwing stones and incendiary devices resulting in several damages made to several public buildings and security patrol cars. Slogans against the Islamic regime and its leaders were shouted by Iranian-Arabs and Iranian-Persians living in the region. Tens of protesters have been injured or arrested. The residents intended to make a peaceful protest in order to request justice and better conditions. The situation is very tense in this city which was scene of deadly riots in August.
Mass crackdown in Tehran. Iran Focus (hat tip: "Kentucky Dan" Kauffman in Comments) reports:
Tehran, Iran, Sep. 18 – Close to 1,600 persons have been arrested in Tehran over the past 10 days as part of a nationwide crackdown, the state-owned hard-line daily Jomhouri Islami reported on Sunday. “Ten days after the plan to increase national security was put into effect, 829 criminal records have been created and 1,588 people have been arrested”, the office of the Tehran Prosecutor announced. The detainees are generally branded as “trouble-makers” or “miscreants”. The prosecutor’s office added that 170 “trouble-makers” had been sent to prison since the launch of the 20-day crackdown in the Iranian capital. Iranian officials have said that similar crackdowns will begin across other towns and cities after the initial 20-day phase.
RSF publishes cyber-activism handbook. Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières) has published a downloadable manual for bloggers and internet dissidents.
Blogs get people excited. Or else they disturb and worry them. Some people distrust them. Others see them as the vanguard of a new information revolution. Because they allow and encourage ordinary people to speak up, they’re tremendous tools of freedom of expression.
Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure. Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest.
Reporters Without Borders has produced this handbook to help them, with handy tips and technical advice on how to to remain anonymous and to get round censorship, by choosing the most suitable method for each situation. It also explains how to set up and make the most of a blog, to publicise it (getting it picked up efficiently by search-engines) and to establish its credibility through observing basic ethical and journalistic principles.
Available in PDF at the link.
