Arash Hejazi

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Category: Censorship in Iran

Censorship in Iran

‘You don’t deserve to be published’ Book censorship in Iran

Censorship is as old as human intellect. It has been practised in almost every country at some level throughout history: from 399 BC, when Socrates was forced to drink poison, to the horrors of the Inquisition, and the oficial coining of the concept with the publication of Index Librorum Prohibitorum by the Roman Catholic Church; from the obligation of English publishers to register their books with the Stationers’ Company in the 16th century until the case of D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover; and the Nazi book-burning campaign and the absolute offfijicial control of the governments of the USSR, China, and Eastern European countries over published material.

Censorship in Iran / Human Rights / Iranian Politics

Chief of the ‘Moral Security’ Police in Tehran: Not observing the Islamic cover for women, using satellite dishes and dog-walking are infringing the civil rights!

Aftabnews.ir 09/05/2011 َ The highlights of General Roozbahani’s interview with Aftabnews on Monday 09 May: – The police will enter the war with West’s cultural invasion and moral corruption with all its might. – We will strictly prohibit dog-walking after the legistlation is passed through the parliament. Dogs creat insecurity for the citizens and sometimes they bark! – Not observing...

Censorship in Iran / Publishing in Iran

Iran denies banning of Paulo Coelho’s books

Read the statement of the Embassy of Iran in Brasilia here. To know about what started this visit here and here. Also read more about the case in Times. Here is my statement in response: I read the statement of the Embassy of Iran in Brasilia with astonishment. I felt pity for a government whose only resort against the public...

Censorship in Iran / Publishing in Iran

Paulo Coelho’s books are banned in Iran

I was informed two days ago by someone I know in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Iran (unfortunately I cannot disclose the person’s name for their security) that they have an order to ban all of Paulo Coelho’s books in Iran, and no books having Paulo Coelho’s name on them as their author will be authorized to...

Censorship in Iran / Human Rights / Iranian Politics / Publishing in Iran

International Publishers Association Calls for the Immediate Release of Publishes List of Arrested Iranian Journalists, Publishers & Writers

Source: International Publishers Association Geneva, 31 July 2009 Following the massive wave of arrests targeting bloggers, journalists, publishers and writers, the International Publishers Association (IPA) publishes a list of some of those under arrest (see Note for Editors), and demands their immediate release. IPA also calls on the Iranian authorities to drop the investigation of Arash Hejazi, the publisher who...

Censorship in Iran

The Hunted Evolves Faster than the Hunter: The Problem of Censorship in Iran

By Arash Hejazi Publishing Perspectives, August 3rd, 2009 My name is Arash Hejazi. I am an Iranian doctor, novelist and founder and editorial director of the Tehran-based Caravan Books Publishing House. Sadly, I’m now better known for my association with the brutal murder of Neda Agha Soltan — as the doctor who tried to save her life and then went...

Censorship in Iran

The censor is crushing us

The censorship by the “Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance” of Iran is crushing us. Today is the inauguration day of Obama, the first African American President of the United States of America. Exactly 40 years ago, in 1968, a man who had this dream was assasinated because he believed that this dream was possible. 45 years ago, before the...

Censorship in Iran

So, what to you read after all?!

It seems somehow strange that despite all these problems, Iranian publishing industry is relatively large. There are over 8000 publishers registered, from which about 1200 publishers publish more than 10 titles a year. Every year, according to the reports published by Iran’s Book House (www.ketab.net), more than 18000 new titles enter the market, which consists mainly of bookstores (about 1500...

Censorship in Iran

Censorship: You don’t deserve to be published!

Coming from a nation which is proud to have produced one of the most ancient books in history (Avesta by the Persian prophet Zarathustra), and coming from a religious background where god swears By the pen and whatever they record[1], it is naturally hard to believe that our government is one of the few States left in the modern world...