Program Title: The Project of Democratization in Iran
Description: Akbar Ganji speaking on his Canadian Tour as recipiant of the John Humphrey Freedom Award.

Host(s):
Featured Speakers/Guests: Akbar Ganji is an emblematic figure and Iran's most prominent political dissident. Well-known journalist and author, Akbar Ganji spent six years in prison for exposing rights abuses committed by Iran's regime. The charges stemmed from a series of investigative articles exposing the complicity of then President Rafsanjani and other leading members of the conservative clergy in the murders of political dissidents and intellectuals in 1998. During his time in prison, Mr. Ganji endured solitary confinement and went on a hunger strike that lasted from May to August 2005. He also continued to write, producing a series of influential political manifestos and open letters calling for Iran's secularization and the establishment of democracy through mass civil disobedience. He has also written many books, including the bestselling The Dungeon of Ghosts (1999) and The Red Eminence and The Grey Eminence (2000).

Credits: Recorded for CJSF by Charlotte Bourne and edited by Bea Bernhausen

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