Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); February 23, 2022: Civil activist and former political prisoner, Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki has been forcibly disappeared according to his relatives who say he may have been arrested. Hossein had received threatening calls in the days preceding his disappearance.
Hossein Ronaghi is a blogger and freedom of speech activist who fought for internet freedom and had previously served a total of six years behind bars for his activism.
One of his relatives told Iran Human Rights: “For the past two days, Hossein kept receiving threats by security agencies through anonymous phone calls.”
On February 22, Hossein took to Twitter to criticise the “Cyberspace Users Rights Protection and Regulation of Key Online Services”, a new bill being passed in parliament which aims to restrict access to the internet. In the tweets, he stated that the Bill, known as Tarhe Sianat (Protection Bill) "was a decision made by the entire system based on the demand from Islamic Republic's leader who had stated: 'Virtual space must be controlled.'"
If you can't write the truth about the "Protection Plan" and internet censorship in Iran, do not bury the truth.
— Hossein Ronaghi (@HosseinRonaghi) February 22, 2022
The Protection Plan was a decision made by the entire system based on the demand from Islamic Republic's leader who had stated: "Virtual space must be controlled." https://t.co/Ytj07e3TMw
Yesterday, Iran Human Rights expressed its concern at the recent escalating crackdown on civil society and called on the international community to not allow the nuclear deal to overshadow the gross human rights violations committed by the Islamic Republic.