In a story that can only make one shake their head, a pro-Iranian blogger, Hossein Derakhshan,  was detained because he tried to show Iranians “a realistic” side of Israel while he was there for a blogging conference. (via Gawker)

The dual Iranian-Canadian citizen blogs in both English and Farsi and generally tries to help people understand his home country. PR win for Iran and its blogger-in-chief Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right? Actually no, because Derakhshan visited Israel last year for a blogging conference, and blogged there to “show the Iranians a more realistic image of this country,” so he’s been thrown in jail during a visit home.

It is sad to think that Derakhshan admitted to spying for Israel - I imagine under pretty horrible conditions - especially considering what he said about his Israel project before the arrest.

People like me are defending the country; we are defending the culture, and in a way, even the Islamic Revolution,” he said. “I would love to have the opportunity to be able to go back to Iran again after I have been to Israel, and make this contact between Iranian and Israelis, which is my project, bypassing the governments and making this contact between the two peoples. [MediaLine]

He could face the death penalty.

takepart to help condemn cyber-censorship and to support internet expression.

Read on:

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Burmese Blogger Arrested for Political Poem

*photo from hoder’s flickr stream (creative commons)