IRAN:Fariba Davoodi-Mohajer has displeased the Tehran regime, writes Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs correspondent
Whereas Ireland came joint first, along with Finland, Iceland and the Netherlands, in the 2006 Press Freedom Index, compiled by the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders), Iran was near the bottom of the list at 162, just ahead of China, Cuba and North Korea.
Fariba Davoodi-Mohajer is an Iranian journalist who has incurred the displeasure of the Tehran regime. She is currently in Ireland on a four-week visit as a guest of Front Line, the Dublin-based foundation which supports human rights defenders throughout the world.
Davoodi-Mohajer is the mother-in-law of another leading Iranian human rights activist, Ali Afshari, who visited Dublin early last year.
She was born in Tehran, where she still lives. Asked if she sees herself primarily as a journalist or as a political activist, she replies: "I combine both and think they are often very much intertwined." Her problem as a journalist is that the publications she wrote for - all of them supporters of democratic reform - have been prohibited by the authorities. "Between 1997 and 2007 they were all banned. Another 12 newspapers were also banned during the same period," she says.
As a result, her work appears only on the internet these days.
"Because I am not permitted to write for any newspapers I now publish work solely on Iranian websites that deal with human rights and women's issues. My lawyer is currently objecting to the prohibition on publishing my work in the print media [ and] a complaint has been made to the minister for culture."
But her internet writings have also incurred the displeasure of the regime, and she is due to appear in court in Tehran next month, after her return home.
A long-standing critic of the regime, she campaigns for changes to the constitution to enhance the rights of women and ethnic minorities. She also campaigns for democratic reforms so that people can have a greater say in their lives. And she would like to see changes in foreign policy: "There is no need to make enemies. I call for more dialogue with other countries."
She works extensively with the Committee of Women Activists - a network of women's groups - and she also founded the Iranian Women's Party, which is active but not officially recognised.
Davoodi-Mohajer says that she has suffered for expressing her views as a journalist and public speaker and for organising protests and demonstrations. Six years ago, in 2001, she was arrested and charged with "compromising the security of the regime".
"I was arrested at home and immediately I was beaten and verbally abused [ and] during the time in detention I was subjected to psychological abuse and ill-treatment. I was detained in a men's prison with no access to lawyers or to my family."
She was sentenced to three years but the sentence was not executed "because I am a woman". Instead, the security police and the courts placed her under surveillance for two years.
This is the second time Front Line has brought her to Ireland. "I have had the opportunity to attend English classes while I am here, which I am extremely happy about, as my English has improved." But she fully intends to return home despite the impending court case and the constant fear of arrest. Fariba Davoodi-Mohajer is not taking the easy way out: "I will continue my work on human rights."