NEAR Newsletter December 2005
Welcome to the NEAR Newsletter. In this edition you will find our most recent Action Alerts and also an ‘Academic Freedom in the Media’ section, listing news by country (December 2005). Any comments and suggestions about the content and layout of the newsletter will be gratefully received at roisin.joyce@nearinternational.org.
NEAR Action Alerts *Taken from the NEAR website
Turkey: Deep concern about upcoming trial of Orhan Parmuk
Author Orhan Pamuk has been adopted as ‘case of the month’ by the English PEN. The organisation is deeply concerned by the news that the Turkish writer will be brought before an Istanbul court on 16 December 2005 and that he faces up to three years in prison for a comment published in a Swiss newspaper earlier in 2005.
United States of America: Palestinian Professor Acquitted of Aiding Terrorist Groups
Professor Sami Al-Arian, a former professor at the University of South Florida as been acquitted by a federal jury. The former professor and three co-defendants were accused of helping to lead a Palestinian terrorist group. He remains in jail. Sami Al-Arian was acquitted on eight of the 17 counts against him and the jury deadlocked on the rest.
Iraq: Iraqi Scientist Freed from US Detention
Dr. Huda Ammash, US-educated Iraqi scientist, has been released from US custody, the Times reported on 20 December 2010.
Iran: Iran Court send student leader to prison for five years
Abdollah Momeni an Iranian student leader has been sentenced to five years of prison by an Iranian court the 20 December 2005. he is accused of acting against state security. The student commented that one of the charges related to organising student protests in 2002-2003 against a death sentence issued against reformist academic Hashem Aghajari for blasphemy (please see Related NEAR Alerts).
** Please continue to send us any relevant cases involving threats to academic freedom and education rights, for potential alerts.
The Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR) is a membership-based, non-governmental organisation which facilitates international collaboration between organisations active in issues of academic freedom and educational rights, and committed to promoting an understanding of, and respect for, the values enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
For more information about NEAR, please visit our website at www.nearinternational.org
For further information please contact:-
Roisin Joyce
Deputy Director
roisin.joyce@nearinternational.org