Maziar Bahari is an Iranian-Canadian journalist, filmmaker, and activist. While reporting on the 2009 Iranian election protests for Newsweek, Bahari was accused of sedition and espionage and imprisoned by the Iranian government for his journalism. He was held for four months before his release, and he continues to be an outspoken advocate for free speech and human rights. Bahari wrote a best-selling memoir about his experience, “Then They Came for Me,” which was adapted into the film “Rosewater” by Jon Stewart. Bahari is the founder of IranWire, a platform for Iranian citizen journalists, as well as Journalism Is Not a Crime, which documents human rights abuses committed against journalists and provides aid to those who are persecuted. Bahari is also the founder of Education Is Not a Crime, a campaign to draw attention to the government’s denial of the rights of the Baha’is, an Iranian religious minority. Bahari has been internationally recognized for his work in filmmaking, journalism, and human rights advocacy.
