Some good news from Iran, where the journalist and film-maker Maziar Bahari, held without charge since 21 June, has been released on bail. Bahari, Newsweek’s Tehran correspondent and an occasional NS contributor, was one of dozens of journalists arrested during the street protests against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election.
Bahari’s wife is due to give birth to the couple’s first child next month and his release is thought to be connected. Paola Gourley was rushed to hospital last week after she suffered bleeding and other health complications due to stress. Bahari’s family is currently waiting to hear whether the Iranian-Canadian journalist will be allowed to leave Tehran and return to his wife at University College Hospital, London.
Bahari’s arrest prompted an impressive show of solidarity with writers and authors including Noam Chomsky, Ian Buruma and Jon Lee Anderson calling for his release.