Omid Memarian

Omid Memarian (Persian: امید معماریان‎) (born 1974~) is an Iranian journalist and blogger. He was a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism in 2005-2006 and was a Rotary Peace Fellow at the Journalism School in 2007-2009, where he received his master's degree.[1][2] In 2013 he edited Sketches of Iran: A Glimpse from the Front Lines of Human Rights.[3] Since 2007, Memarian has taught training courses for journalists at the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) among other media organizations.

Early life

Memarian was awarded the Golden pen at the National Press Festival in Iran at 2001. He has been blogging since 2002, in English and Persian, and has written for Iranian daily newspapers such as Hayat-e No (New Life), Yas-e-no (New Jasmin), Vaqaye-e Ettefaqiyeh (Occurring Events) and Sharq (or Shargh = meaning East). He is well known for his regular news analysis columns and blogs in English and Persian. Memarian was the editor of Volunteer Actors Quarterly which dealt with civil society issues.[1]

In 2004, Memarian attempted to attend a conference on Iranian civil society in New York. He had obtained a US visa, but en route in Frankfurt, US authorities refused to allow him to board his flight, saying that he was on a No Fly List. They provided no other information. He was arrested a few days after his return to Tehran.[4]

Arrest and detention

On 10 October 2004, Memarian was arrested on the orders of the Tehran Prosecutor's Office's Ninth Chamber. He was detained for posting articles on several reformist newspapers, his blogs and online publications, and was charged with spreading a "dark picture of the country and stoking women's issues."[5] Five days later the authorities also searched Memarian's home and confiscated his personal notes and computer. He was detained until mid-December 2004. According to Human Rights Watch, Memarian and other journalists who had been detained were subjected to torture and solitary confinement,[6] but before their release they were coerced into signing a confession letter which stated that they had been detained under good conditions.[7] Memarian has described his imprisonment and the interrogator's process of extracting a confession from him in interviews with National Public Radio.[8][9]

Current work and awards

Memarian works as a freelance writer for the IPS (Inter Press Service) news agency Rooz Online, and BBC Persian. He has had op-ed pieces published in New York Times,[10] San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Time.com, Slate, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, Opendemocracy.net and Contra Costa Times.

In 2004 he received the Golden Pen Award from Iran's Press Festiva and in 2005, he received the Human Rights Defender Award, Human Rights Watch's highest honor, for his courageous work as a journalist and human rights activist.[11]


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References
  1. IASTP - International and Area Studies Teaching Program - UC Berkeley Archived 2008-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Rotary.org: Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution Archived 2012-02-13 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Striking back, even from half a world away". Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  4. Iran Jails More Journalists and Blocks Web Sites New York Times November 8, 2004
  5. Pushing the Envelope on Iranian Repression, column by Nora Boustany in Washington Post 11 November 2005
  6. Iran: Judiciary Uses Coercion to Cover Up Torture (Human Rights Watch, 20-12-2004)
  7. Bucar, Elizabeth M. and Roja Fazaeli. 2008. Free speech in Weblogistan? The offline consequences of online communication. International Journal of Middle East Studies 40. 403-419.
  8. Omid Memarian. Forced confessions
  9. This American Life. 433 Fine Print 2011, Originally aired 04.15.2011
  10. Memarian, Omid (2013-09-24). "Rouhani Holds the Key". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  11. "Human Rights Watch Honors Iranian Journalist and Blogger". Archived from the original on 2008-10-19. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
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