Once or twice a week, when I come across an interesting story in the news or the blogs, I'll link to it and add my own comments in a Note on Facebook so all my friends will hear about it. I've gotten a really good response and generated discussion on a number of topics by doing that. I think of it as bringing blogging to facebook.
So I was dissapointed in myself when I overlooked a Note written by a good college friend of mine. I decided that if I want people to pay attention to what I think is important, I ought to extend to them the same courtesy. And in doing so I came across what you're about to see. I searched for this topic and found it nowhere on Dailykos. I hope I'm not breaking any rules because I won't be around to delete this diary today, but hopefully it will get some attention. The story, below...
By the way, I'm copying the Facebook Note in it's entirety with the permission of my friend who wrote it.
TRIAL FOR NAZANIN FATEHI - YOU CAN HELP!
You can help raise media awareness of this story by emailing U.S newstations and newspapers. See bottom for contact emails for these stations and newspapers! The trial for Nazanin Fatehi is in 2 days. She is facing the death penalty because she tried to defend herself. Send them this release so that this story is heard and something is done before it is too late!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
IRANIAN 19 YEAR OLD GIRL IS FACING DEATH SENTENCE ON JANUARY 10th FOR SELF DEFENSE IN A RAPE ATTEMPT. MUSIC ARTIST AND RUNNER-UP FOR MISS WORLD – NAZANIN AFSHIN-JAM PRESENTS A RIVETING DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE EFFORTS TO SAVE THE LIFE HER NAMESAKE.
January 5, 2007 - Nazanin Fatehi was sentenced to death for murder by a court in Iran after she stabbed one of three men who attempted to rape her and her 15-year-old niece in a park in Karaj, a suburb of Tehran, in March 2005. She was 17 at the time. On June 1, 2006, the Head of Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, announced a stay of execution and the call for a retrial. Nazanin Fatehi's retrial will take place January 10, 2007 (20th of Dey 1385 in the Iranian calendar).
To raise the level of awareness, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, former Miss Canada and runner-up for the Miss World title seeks support from the international community in her campaign to save the life of her 19-year-old Iranian namesake.
She is hosting a riveting documentary titled: The Tale of Two Nazanins, which can be viewed on www.bodog.tv . The documentary highlights short and candid interviews with politicians and human rights experts, and captures emotional footage of Nazanin Fatehi speaking to her sister and mother by phone from prison. Other footage includes a re-enactment of the attack and narration by Nazanin Afshin-Jam as she takes the audience through the emotional episode.
Singer and songwriter Nazanin Afshin-Jam has been waging an international campaign to raise awareness about this human rights case. She has created a petition that now has over 230,000 signatories from around the world, as well as spoken to political leaders and international organizations and institutions, such as the United Nations and Amnesty International.
"We have a lot of momentum, but we're running out of time,... I really believe we can save Nazanin's life - but only with the support of the international community," she said.
To view the documentary visit: www.bodog.tv.
Nazanin Afshin-Jam has also made a video appeal to Iranian officials which can be viewed at : http://www.youtube.com/...
To find out more information about the case of Nazanin Fatehi, visit : www.myspace.com/savenazanin
www.helpnazanin.com
Media Contact: savenazanin@hotmail.com
For additional media emails please visit (http://www.awolbush.com/papers.html).
Important U.S and U.K newspapers:
etters@guardian.co.uk, letters@independent.co.uk,letters@the-times.co.uk, dtletters@telegraph.co.uk,letters@observer.co.uk, letters@dailymail.co.uk, express.letters@express.co.uk, letters.editor@ft.com, letters@the-sun.co.uk, mailbox@mirror.co.uk, today@bbc.co.uk, pm@bbc.co.uk, letters@nytimes.com, letter.editor@edit.wsj.com, letters@washpost.com,letters@latimes.com. editor@usatoday.com, letters@sfchronicle.com, letters@suntimes.com, letters@sjmercury.com, letter@globe.com, opinion@seattletimes.com, viewpoints@chron.com, letters@baltsun.com
Important Newstations:
netaudr@abc.com; nightline@abcnews.com; evening@cbsnews.com; earlyshow@cbs.com; 60II@cbsnews.com; 48hours@cbsnews.com; ftn@cbsnews.com; Special@foxnews.com; Foxreport@foxnews.com; Oreilly@foxnews.com; Hannity@foxnews.com; Colmes@foxnews.com; Ontherecord@foxnews.com; nightly@nbc.com; today@nbc.com; dateline@nbc.com; msnbcreports@msnbc.com; hardball@msnbc.com
Thank you!
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PS. Thanks for reading. I don't know how much help we can be, but it's worth a try. More than anything, I'm grateful to see my non-political friends take an interest in causes such as these and to use technology to spread the word.