#Freesaba: Join the Twitter Storm To Free Saba Azarpeik

Today Iranian journalists and human rights activists called on Twitter users around the world to take part in Thursday’s #freesaba Twitter storm. 

Saba Azarpeik’s colleagues and free speech activists are among those calling for Twitter users to send out simultaneous tweets on 31 July 2014 using the #freesaba hashtag. Tweets should be posted at 10:00 pm Tehran time, which is 17:30 pm European Central time, 18:30 pm British Summer Time, 13:30 pm Eastern time and 10:30 am Pacific time. 

Azarpeik was arrested on May 28 and remains in prison at an unknown location. She has been allowed to speak with her family on the telephone once, but has not been allowed to see them. On June 19 and 20 she was tried at the Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Mohammad Moghisei, who is well known for bringing harsh sentences against human rights activists and political prisoners. Her lawyer was banned from attending the trial. 

There are widespread reports that her physical condition has deteriorated. Although her family has been forbidden from speaking to the media about her case and reports of her ill health, Azarpeiks’s mother posted on Facebook that “two of Saba’s vertebrae have been dislocated and she is suffering from a high fever.”