Hossein Derakhshan

Hossein Derakhshan (born 7 January 1975) is a Canadian- Iranian blogger and political activist. He is considered the father of the Iranian blogger and podcast movement. He was arrested in 2008 by the Iranian government for political reasons and is currently detained in Evin prison.

Iranian media reports said Derakhshan in September 2010 by Abolqasem Salavati, Judge of the 15th Division of the Islamic Revolutionary Court has sentenced to 19 years and 6 months imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros. He was accused of blasphemy, propaganda against the Islamic government, collaborating with hostile governments and operating an obscene website. In June 2011 the judgment was upheld. On December 9, Derakhshan was temporarily released on bail payment of $ 1.5 million ( £ 950,000 ). 6 May 2011 Derakhshan updated his Facebook profile with a series of photographs and brief status update "On a very short leave from Evin ".