[Reader-list] Free Kian Tajbaksh

[shuddha at sarai.net]

Dear all, 

Many people on this list are following events in Iran closely. Here is some
more sad news. Dr. Kian Tajbaksh a well known Iranian-American scholar
living in Tehran, who has been arrested. His circumstances are currently
unknown. He joins the ranks of many Iranians and others who are currently
being detained in Iran, as the crisis in Iran deepens.

(I am pasting relevant information from a website set up to campaign for
his release). Please do take time to sign this petition, at

http://www.freekian09.org/sign-the-petition/

and forward this information as widely as possible,

regards, 

Shuddha
-------------------

At 9:00pm Tehran time on July 9, 2009, Iranian agents arrested Dr.
Tajbakhsh at his home in Tehran. Two people who identified themselves as
Iranian security officials arrived at his residence in Tehran late
Thursday. The officials questioned him and his wife and searched the
residence for three hours, before taking him away along with two computers
and other items.

We have no information about where Dr. Tajbakhsh was taken.

An American citizen, Dr. Tajbakhsh is a leading scholar with an
international reputation. He taught at the New School in New York City for
seven years and remains a senior research fellow there. He has published
two widely praised books, The Promise of the City: Space, Identity and
Politics in Contemporary Social Thought (University of California Press,
2001) and Social Capital: Trust, Democracy and Development (published in
Persian, 2005). He has published over 20 articles in leading scholarly
journals and delivered lectures at major international conferences on urban
planning, public health, and municipal government. Dr. Tajbakhsh has had a
long affiliation with the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), the
leading academic organization for social scientists in the United States.
He has served as a Steering Committee Member for the SSRC’s Middle East
and North Africa Program and contributed in significant ways to the
SSRC’s academic projects. Throughout the course of his career, Dr.
Tajbakhsh has earned a reputation as a distinguished and respected scholar
throughout the Middle East, South Asia, Europe, and the United States.

In addition to his academic career, Dr. Tajbakhsh has worked as a
consultant for several organizations including Iran’s Municipalities
Organization, the Social Security Organization, and international
organizations such as the World Bank, the Open Society Institute and the
Dutch Association of Municipalities. He spent four months in Evin prison in
2007 after being falsely accused along with three other Iranian-Americans
of endangering national security. Following his release he ended his
association with the Open Society Institute. Recently he has been
researching and writing several books and spending time with his family and
first child, born in 2007.

It is difficult to imagine why a brilliant scholar and friend like Dr.
Tajbakhsh would be targeted by the Iranian regime. We strongly appeal for
your help in revoking the decision to detain him.