Watchdog

The Moldovan Court of Appeals has released journalist Natalia Morar from house arrest in the capital, Chisinau, where she had been confined for her role in the so-called "Twitter Revolution," RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports.

Morar, a 25-year-old journalist accused of organizing street protests after the controversial April 5 parliamentary elections, has been under house arrest for three weeks.

She could receive a 15-year prison sentence if found guilty of helping to organize the demonstrations in the capital, which turned violent and led to the storming of parliament and the presidential palace.

The protests were known as the "Twitter Revolution" because of the use of mobile phones and social-networking sites on the Internet to rally people.

Morar is free to leave her home but is banned from leaving the country.

The independent press agency Unimedia quotes Morar as saying she regrets the no-travel order because her job often requires her to travel.

Morar freelances for the Russian magazine "New Times," where she used to work as an investigative reporter. She returned to her native Moldova in 2007 and founded the Internet forum ThinkMoldova.

She argued that her "right to travel freely" is being denied by the court.

More than 100 Iranian labor activists and several members of the One Million Signatures Campaign against discriminatory laws were detained in Tehran on May 1 as they gathered in the city's Laleh Park to mark International Workers' Day.

Witnesses told RFE/RL that police violently attacked activists and workers who had gathered at the park and detained them even before they had started protesting.

Among the detainees is women’s rights activist Jelveh Javaheri, whose husband, Kaveh Mozafari, was also detained at Laleh Park.

Javaheri was detained at the couple's home. Security forces searched the house, confiscated personal files and computers, and took Javaheri with them.

According to Javaheri’s mother, authorities have set a high bail for her release. She said her daughter has not been able to make the payment.

The daughter of another activist, Maryam Mohseni, who was also detained at Laleh Park, said that her mother is being held at Tehran’s Evin prison. She said her mother has been fighting for May Day celebrations to be allowed in Iran for the past 20 years.

Charges against the detainees are not clear.

The families have called on authorities to release their loved ones without any conditions.

(by Golnaz Esfandiari)