Iran Cracks Down On Academics.

Press freedom is usually one of the first rights to be curbed, but all types of freedoms are at stake. In Iran, recent crack-downs under populist/supremacist President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad have only sporadically focused on the media. But Iran's intelligence services are now targeting academics and other activists with ties to the West, on the pretext they are receiving some of the $75m earmarked by the US Congress for "pro-democracy" activities. On May 21, for example, charges were published against Haleh Esfandiari, a dual Iran-US citizen who directs the Middle East programme at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington. She has been in Iranian custody since Dec. 30. Iran has detained Kian Tajbakhsh, a consultant for philanthropist George Soros's Open Society Institute.

The US funding is part of a continuing "civil society" support which is credited with enabling the "democratic revolutions" in Serbia, Georgia, and Ukraine. Russia, Belarus, and now Iran have sought to pre-empt Western influence by clamping down on civil society groups. Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and National Security (MINS) accused Mrs. Esfandiari of helping set up a secret network with the Open Society Institute to undermine the Shi'ite theocracy. In a statement, the MINS said: "The long-term and final goal of such centres is to try to enable this network to confront the ruling powers".

Some in Iran see the moves not as a clamp on freedom of expression but a matter of domestic security. In Russia, where no one claims that press controls have returned to the Soviet model of total subservience, pro-Kremlin experts blame local journalists for not taking advantage of their legal freedoms. "Any media outlet has a choice whether to be independent or not. Some, such as the [Moscow radio station] Ekho Moskvi, or Novaya Gazeta, are criticising Putin in a harsh way, and they survive", says Boris Reznik, a member of the pro-Kremlin United Russia Party and deputy head of the State Duma's commission on information policy, adding: "But other journalists don't want to be free; they'd rather earn a lot of money and take state subsidies".

In Caracas, more protests over the closure of RCTV were expected on May 26-27. But few expect Chavez to back down. Like many leaders, he does not need to, says Michael Shifter, VP for policy at the Inter-American Dialogue, adding: "The move will hurt his international reputation, but it's damage he judges he can weather. It's because oil prices are so high [that] these oil-producing countries feel they can get away with a lot and take steps to silence the press. Neighbouring countries would hesitate to criticise them since they need their oil".