FreeDorothy

On Friday, May 6, it will be one week since the Syrian government detained former Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter and AAJA Seattle member Dorothy Parvaz.

Download your “Free Dorothy” Facebook profile pic here, swap it out with your personal profile pic, and show solidarity on Friday with her family and friends. If you feel so moved, swap it out with your Twitter pic too!

If the link above is broken, go to http://aajaseattle.org/FreeDorothy.jpg

Many thanks to designer Wendy Wahman for producing this quickly, and to Kristen Young who posted it initially Thursday as her Facebook profile picture!

Be sure to “Like” the Free Dorothy page on Facebook.

Ever since Al Jazeera first reported that 39-year-old Parvaz was missing after being sent to cover news there, the number of people calling for her release has multiplied day by day. Because she worked at both The Seattle Times and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and hails from Vancouver, naturally the journalists in the Pacific Northwest began flooding the Syrian embassy’s inbox earlier in the week. The Seattle media have been following her story closely.

Her story quickly circled the globe. A few:

– New Zealand

– Washington, D.C. (NPR, Washington Post)

– Toronto and Vancouver, Canada

– London

– India

We don’t know how long it’s going to take to bring Dorothy back home, but her supporters are determined to keep up the pressure on our Congressional representatives, the U.S. State Department and the Syrian government. This is not an issue that will be allowed to fade into the background.

If you’d like to join our campaign, send an email to aajaseattle@gmail.com. Several groups are coalescing around this campaign and will be developing strategies to keep Dorothy’s case in the spotlight.