Source: Committee to Protect Journalists

CPJ International Press Freedom Awards 2014

Siamak Ghaderi is an Iranian freelance journalist and a former editor and reporter for the Islamic Republic's official news agency IRNA.

Ghaderi made international headlines when he chose to rebut former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim in 2007 that there were no homosexuals in Iran by publishing online his own interviews with several gay Iranians. He later set up his own blog, called IRNA-ye maa (Our IRNA), in which he covered street protests and other developments following the contested 2009 presidential election.

In July 2010, he was arrested and, in January 2011, sentenced to four years in prison and 60 lashes on charges of "propagating against the regime," "creating public anxiety," and "spreading falsehoods." Pro-government news websites--including Rasekhoon and Haghighat News--called him a "seditionist" who was arrested for "immoral" acts. His blog was repeatedly blocked by authorities before he was detained, reports said.

Ghaderi was an editor and reporter for IRNA for 18 years until he was dismissed for writing about the 2009 election on his blog.

On July 14, 2014, Ghaderi was released from prison.

The text of Ghaderi's acceptance speech, as prepared for delivery, is below. For the Farsi-language version of the speech as prepared for delivery, click here.

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Iranian Journalist Siamak Ghaderi: 2014 CPJ International Press Freedom Awardee