SPEAK OUT FOR IMPRISONED WRITERS!

TORONTO, Oct. 19 /CNW/ - On November 15^th, 2010, the International Day of the Imprisoned Writer, PEN Canada will speak up for Hossein Derakhshan, a Canadian journalist and blogger who has been jailed in Tehran for nothing more than the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression. We will join Canadians and other concerned citizens across the internet, blogosphere and online world of social media, to demand that the Canadian government immediately take action to free this journalist and bring him back to Canada.

Derakhshan is also known as "the blogfather" for his pioneering blog and Farsi language blogging manual which encouraged a whole generation of Iranians, both inside the country and elsewhere, to express their points of view online. Derakhshan likes to speak his mind—and not everyone appreciates what he has to say. On November 1st, 2008 while staying with his family in Tehran, he was arrested by the Iranian authorities and thrown in jail. He has been incarcerated ever since, and deprived of justice and a fair trial. Now the 35-year-old blogger is serving a sentence of more than 19 years in jail.

Follow us on twitter (@PENCanada) or join us on Facebook for daily updates on the campaign. Visit www.pencanada.ca for more details on how to support Hossein Derakhshan, and on November 15^th, join us online as we lobby the Canadian government to speak for someone who can no longer speak for himself.

For further information:

Brendan de Caires [phone] x.21, [email protected]