Iranian blogfather jailed

Hossein Derakhshan, Iran's blogfather, has been jailed by Iranian authorities since at least early November. Derakhshan first started blogging back in 2001 and taught other Iranians how to blog.

Iranian authorities have confirmed Derakhshan is in custody but have not eloborated on the charges. Some reports state he was arrrested for making remarks about shi'ite leaders and other reports said he was a spy for Israel.CTV

The long-suspected arrest of a controversial Iranian-Canadian political blogger has been confirmed by Iran.

Hossein Derakhshan, known in the blogosphere by the name of his controversial website Hoder.com, hasn't posted since October, prompting many to assume he had been arrested.

Earlier in December, Derakhshan's family told The Globe and Mail that he had been locked up, and on Tuesday the Iranian judiciary confirmed Derakhshan was in custody.

....

Jamshidi said the 34-year-old blogger was arrested over remarks he allegedly made about key Shiite Muslim holy figures.

No information was given about where or when Derakhshan was picked up, but earlier reports suggested he had been arrested on Nov. 1 shortly after arriving in Tehran.

Some reports said he was accused of spying for Israel.

Derakhshan has been dubbed the "blogfather" for writing and distributing instructions in 2001 that allowed Iranians to create their own Persian-language blogs.

The movement caught fire in the restrictive Muslim country, with an estimated 70,000 Iranians now maintaining their own blogs, in Persian.