Hossein Derakhshan
Born in Iran in 1975, Hossein Derakhshan, commonly referred to as the "blogging godfather" or the "blogfather," moved to Canada in 2000. His blog became the first Persian blog, and took off in 2001 with his simple instruction manual on how to set up and write a Persian-language blog. In 2003 his blog became highly political, encouraging opposition through writing. In 2006 he visited Israel publicly, seeking to mend relations between Iran and Israel, which are sworn enemies. In the same year, he also backed presidential candidate Ahmadinejad. In 2008 he was arrested while visiting family in Iran and was sentenced to 19 and a half years in prison, banned from political party membership for five years, and ordered to repay earnings of around $44,500 for "propagating against the regime" and "co-operating with hostile states." In 2010 he was temporarily released on bail of 1.5 million dollars.
Read more about this topic: Blogging In Iran