Tell HN: A hacker's life is in danger, your awareness may be life saving

[michaeltimo]

It's been a month that Jadi (real name: Amir Emad Mirmirani), an Iranian geek, has been imprisoned in Iran's most notorious prison called Evin in Tehran.

In Iran, he is one of the most famous people active in the field of programming and computer education. In his personal blog[0], he has been writing about technology and society for years. He has also a YouTube channel[1][2] to teach and encourage Iranians to programming and Linux, and a podcast[3] that has been explaining technology and science news along with his comments for several years. All this in a country with a dictatorial government where standing in the right place has a heavy price.

His arrest occurred on October 5, a few days after the recent nationwide protests[4] began in Iran. Arrest at home with beating. The reason for this is not yet clear, but it is probably due to his efforts to increase awareness of the society about Iran's internet censorship system, and his positions against a company called ArvanCloud. Many claim this company help the government of Iran in implementing the internet censorship's system (something like Great Firewall of China). In Jadi's own words, this company has made it possible for the government to turn the Internet into an intranet at any moment and block people's access to international services. Something that happens in every demonstration in Iran including right now.

The reason I am writing here is to raise awareness about him, which may lead to his release. All this may be nothing more than a false hope, but it is what I can do. From the news he covered in his podcast, it could be guessed that he is one of the regular readers of Hacker News. Perhaps hearing your support here will boost his morale behind bars in Evin. The prison which is also known as Evin University due to the number of educated political prisoners [5].

[0](Persian) https://jadi.net/

[1](Persian) https://www.youtube.com/jadimirmirani

[2](English) https://www.youtube.com/geekingjadi

[3](Persian) https://castbox.fm/channel/%D9%BE%D8%A7%D8%AF%DA%A9%D8%B3%D8%AA-%E2%80%93-%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%86%D8%AA-%7C-%DA%A9%DB%8C%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AF-%D8%A2%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%AF-id22150?country=us

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahsa_Amini_protests

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evin_Prison

[millzlane]

Also their name, among others is mentioned on this thread https://www.reddit.com/r/UnitedNations/comments/yebv7u/iran_...

EFF also has an article. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/10/stop-persecution-irani...

[ninefathom]

I've had the privilege in the past of working with a small number of Irani technology professionals, and I found these particular individuals to be some of the most capable and well-rounded in the entirety of my experience with the global technology field.

The idea of any of those individuals sitting in prison for political reasons turns my stomach.

[phist_mcgee]

Adversity breeds strength.

Imagine learning to program with no access (or highly disrupted access) to google, stack overflow and github.

Where you have to download web pages for later use in case your internet is cut off.

Where random power outages can suddenly interrupt you many times a day.

Where using a vpn can be used against you in a criminal case.

I can imagine that anyone who perseveres through those kinds of obstacles to become a programmer would have some pretty tremendous grit and would build them into a great developer.

[blameitonme]

I'm a student in India and I discovered him 6-7 months ago and have watched many of his videos and learnt a lot, I still suggest his channel to friends when topic comes.

It feels weird, like a lot is going through my head but realistically I can't do anything.

If you will ever read this jadi, hope you're safe and thanks for your teachings. <3

[AugustusCrunch]

I'm following the protests. I'm not sure why a cruel and sadistic minority can run a country, but it happens. I'm inclined to wonder why the US military, pulling out, didn't arm every woman and intellectual in the country. I won't forget his name.

[tdeck]

> I'm inclined to wonder why the US military, pulling out, didn't arm every woman and intellectual in the country. I won't forget his name.

Because the US wants to back something it can control, not a popular movement. The US government backed Iran's prior cruel and sadistic minority.

[Barrin92]

because it wasn't a minority. The Iranian revolution had wide backing, the Shah was an absolute monarch who came to power in a coup. Women and students featured pretty prominently as well. Lots of the tactics today like women opposing the military directly were used back then too.

[vinaypai]

When did the US pull out of Iran?

[ShredKazoo]

This appears to be a good subreddit for following protests and other developments: https://www.reddit.com/r/NewIran/

[pedalpete]

Awesome. I was commenting to a friend yesterday that it seems the news attention on Iran has dropped in the last week. Of course, our news cycles only have so much attention span for far away places, though somehow they can continue to talk ad nauseum about a potential conflict with China, or a Jan 6th.

[garfieldnate]

I have 0 context here. Could you explain the guys knocking the white hats off of older men?

[lo2y]

I am from Yemen, and we are suffering from the same religious ideology. The least I can do is upvote this and hope for his safe return and freedom for Iran and Iranian people.

[31337Logic]

Thanks for doing this.

[tsycho]

How can we help?

[YetAnotherNick]

1. If you know someone from mainstream media, let them know this

2. If you know someone influential from country that Iran trades with, let them know. It is bit difficult as no country in Western world trades with Iran. And China doesn't give two shits about human rights abuse, same with India. South Korea and Turkey are the largest importer after those.

3. Upvote so that chances of someone who could help with first two could see this thread.

[mmaunder]

This is the right question. Are people in his situation ever set free? What is the most common way this occurs? We can’t invade Iran. Do they ever bow to social pressure of any kind? Is there some other form of pressure or influence that can be exerted to secure his release? OP you know the terrain and norms there better than us. So how can we help?

[kolpazan]

Jadi, I am sure you will make Evin the best Hacker School of Iran. I wish I could do more thn few words

[doron2402]

Thanks for posting this. Sending my thoughts and prayers to all Iranian

[ethotool]

I feel for these individuals who are suffering but let’s be clear.

This attempt at overthrowing the regime in Iran with the help of the western media is probably not going to work. This is not the first time that it’s been attempted. If you’re willing to stand against your own government then you’re definitely brave but you will likely deal with the consequences no matter where you’re from. And that’s not something anyone can help with.

I posted this a few months back and I was downvoted but I’ll say it again. It’s important that we all remain neutral and promote non-interventalisim on this platform. One life harmed or lost is not worth it!

[trhr]

We can't light the spark for them, but we can help fan the flames.

[melony]

This thread will make things worse. When you raise a person's profile, the state won't stand idly by. You will end up with another Assange or Snowden. If this thread snowballs, the Iranian government will make an example out of him purely for the sake of it. In other words, your virtue signaling is going to get him killed.

If you truly care, for whatever reason, reach out to your contacts in the country and grease a few palms. Those countries are poor and easily bribed. But if you raise too much awareness, then his freedom would be beyond bribes and diplomatic pressure.

[amir734jj]

Wrong! the regime in Iran is terrorist. They have no mercy. Negotiating/bribing will not work. The only thing they understand is international pressure and money.

Source: I am an Iranian

[emilsedgh]

I have a lot of activist friends in Iran who has been previously arrested. It is well known amongst all Iran activists that media attention helps bringing more transparency and due process.

[PhasmaFelis]

Could we please stop calling any expression of differing views "virtue signalling"? It is actually possible for people to vocally disagree with you sincerely.

[riku_iki]

> The reason I am writing here is to raise awareness about him, which may lead to his release.

its unlikely Iran government cares about opinions on the HN.

[Brian_K_White]

It's unlikely anyone thought they did.

[gigatexal]

What can we do? I know his name now but I want to do something.

[breck]

I can't find a Git or GitHub account for him. Any ideas?

[layer8]

Probably https://github.com/jadijadi. I googled for “jadi github”.

[senand]

All the best to Jadi

[mrpf1ster]

Stay strong Jadi

[renewiltord]

Is there an action I can take?

[trhr]

Yeah, you can stop supporting censorship.

Facebook, Twitter, Reddit et al are modern censorship platforms. I know that saying that violates liberal dogma, but it's true. You could probably even go so far as to say cancel culture is a censorship platform, particularly when it's misused.

The problem with censorship is that it stifles intellectualism. Intellectuals have always cut against the grain and said crazy shit in essays, much like I'm saying now. It's the sort of crazy shit that challenges your worldview, and it's natural to want to downvote, report, and have that content removed from your platform of choice.

But intellectualism is the only thing that can create a revolution.

And politically-correct censorship is getting all the intellectuals silenced (along with all the actual idiots).

Now, what's it mean to "stop supporting censorship?" Everybody agrees that, as private platforms, these companies have the right to moderate and remove any speech that they choose. The problem is that they're also seeking protections under Section 230, which says "Internet companies that don't moderate their content can't be responsible for their content." This creates a dilemma, especially when these companies have created an oligopoly surrounding online speech.

We need legislation that establishes the public forums and discussion areas on these providers as public utilities so that their users receive first amendment protections under the Constitution. This still allows them to remove content that violates the first amendment - like incitement - but would otherwise reclaim the internet as the world's largest mass free speech zone.

[koyanisqatsi]

There isn't. No one on HN has any influence over Iranian happenings.

[cleerline]

let him go