LibreLocals one held in an Iranian prison

On Thursday, the Free Software Foundation blogged about the 47 “LibreLocal 2026” meetings held this year in Australia, Mexico, the United States, New Zealand, Cameroon, Switzerland, Spain, Argentina, China, and Iran. “Far from each other in many parts of the world, we united around a common belief: free software.”

“We envisioned LibreLocal as a collage of in-person meetups that would bring people together to exchange ideas, learn from each other, and celebrate free software. When we asked the free software community to host LibreLocals last year, the response was overwhelming: 29 different meetups were held. Organizers hosted LibreLocals in coffee shops, bars, restaurants, libraries, universities, a computer repair shop, and the System Source Museum, a museum dedicated to the history of computing in Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA.”

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We also learned that a LibreLocal was organized inside Vakil Abad prison in Mashhad, Iran, by a free software advocate. It was originally scheduled to take place in Shiraz, but we were informed of this location change on the LibreLocal wiki page that has been created to list all LibreLocals. The updated entry, by another free software advocate in Iran, states:

“This year, one of our dedicated activists organized a LibrePlanet event from inside prison in Iran. He is serving a sentence for “cybercrimes” related to the promotion of free software, and continues to introduce the principles of software freedom to his fellow prisoners. We have placed this banner to honor his resilience and the community of individuals in prison who continue to defend technological freedom. His identity will be revealed when it is safe to do so.”

“Defending user freedom should never result in a prison sentence. We greatly admire and respect the courage and strength of those who fight for software freedom in the most dangerous and oppressive environments.”

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Although the press releases will range from very select to rare, I said I'd pass...because sometimes the editors hide.