Showing posts with label political prisoners. Show all posts
Showing posts with label political prisoners. Show all posts

1 June 2010

Six years in prison and 74 lashes for expressing condolences


Source: Negar Irani

You have to read this to believe it! This is yet another example of Justice the Islamic Republic Style. I implore you to share this information so that people around the world realize the oppression and injustice our Iranian brothers and sisters are living under.


Six years in prison and 74 lashes for expressing condolences to the family of martyr Mousavi

10 Khordad, 1389 (June 1st, 2010)

TahavoleSabz - Dr. Sara Tavasoli was sentenced to 6 years in prison and 74 lashings for attending the demonstrations on Ashura and expressing condolences towards martyr Mousavi's family.

According to the ruling of the 26th branch of the Revolutionary Court under the supervision of Judge Pirbabayi, Sara Tavasoli was sentenced to 6 years in jail and 74 lashings because of her brief appearance at the Ashura demonstrations and for visiting the house of martyr Mousavi in order to extend her condolences.

Sara Tavasoli was arrested on the 14th of Dey, after the events that proceeded the elections, spending 50 days in Evin's ward 209. Dr. Tavasoli is a professor and the daughter of Mohammad Tavasoli Head of the Political Office & Central Council of the Freedom Movement in Iran.

Her husband, Mohsen Farid Taheri was also arrested after the events of Ashura and is currently held in Evin's ward 350.

According to the sentence delivered by the 26th branch of the Revolutionary Court, Dr. Tavakoli was charged with colluding to commit crimes against the national security of the country, receiving a total sentence of six years in jail and 74 lashings.

Source: TahavoleSabz
http://www.tahavolesabz.com/item/2820

شش سال زندان و ۷۴ ضربه شلاق به دلیل تسلیت به خانواده شهید موسوی

۱۰ خرداد ۱۳۸۹

تحول سبز: خانم دکتر سارا توسلی به اتهام حضور در حوادث عاشورا و تسلیت به خانواده شهید موسوی به شش سال زندان و ۷۴ ضربه شلاق محکوم شد.

بنابر رای شعبه ۲۶ دادگاه انقلاب اسلامی به ریاست قاضی عباس پیربابایی ، خانم دکتر سارا توسلی به اتهام حضور کوتاه مدت در حوادث عاشورا و حضور در منزل شهید موسوی و تسلیت به خانواده این شهید به شش سال زندان و ۷۴ ضربه شلاق محکوم شد.

به گزارش میزان، ساراتوسلی در پی حوادث انتخابات در تاریخ ۱۳ دیماه بازداشت شد و مدت ۵۰ روز در بند ۲۰۹ زندانی بود.دکتر سارا توسلی استاد دانشگاه و عضو هیات علمی و فرزند مهندس محمد توسلی رئیس دفتر سیاسی و عضو شورای مرکزی نهضت آزادی ایران است.

همسر وی مهندس فرید طاهری نیز درپی حوادث عاشورا بازداشت شده و همچنان در بند ۳۵۰ زندان در بازداشت بسر می برد.

بنابر حکم بدوی ابلاغ شده توسط شعبه ۲۶ دادگاه انقلاب وی به اتهام اجتماع و تبانی به قصذ ارتکاب جرایم علیه امنیت کشور و اخلال در نظم عمومی مجموعاً به شش سال زندان و ۷۴ ضربه شلاق محکوم شده است.
مطالب مرتبط

31 May 2010

Zahra Rahnavard: In the name of Hazrat Zahra, release all political prisoners!

Zahra Rahnavard: You will not lose face! Do not give this opportunity up! In the name of Hazrat Zahra, release all political prisoners!

English translation: Negar Irani

On the eve of the birthday commemoration of Hazrat Fatemeh Zahra (daughter of Prophet Mohammad) and the anniversary of Women's Week , Dr. Zahra Rahnavard issued a statement in which she revered the esteemed character of Fatemeh Sedighe and stated that the Prophet Mohammad's daughter is a role model for all Muslim women.



As per Kaleme the complete statement of Zahra Rahnavard is as follows:

I would like to congratulate the noble people of Iran on the anniversary of the birthday of Hazrat Fatemeh the daughter of Prophet Mohammad and Women's Day.

I hope that this unique woman, with all her dimensions, such as her spiritual and holy teachings, her political and social role, her role as a gentle mother and wife has an everlasting place in the culmination of human aspirations.

In addition to its unmatched unity, the Green movement is also filled with duplications and freshness. This variety creates an opportunity for us to appreciate all beautiful human behavior, and to respect all justice seeking models across the globe.

Within the framework of our Islamic beliefs, we follow the example of Fatemeh Zahra and bow our heads in honor of her transcendent character.

We will not forget, not even for a moment the extreme suffering she went through to promote and advance Islam. Even though her young body is now connected with the darkness of the earth, her cause and spirit still remains for the believers and those who seek freedom.

The Green movement as a reform seeking movement realizes the importance of new religious thinking, narrated through the approach of Hazrat Zahra to modern day individuals. Hazarat Zahra is not only a role model for women, but also a complete and consummate symbol of Islam and this orthodox religion has been crystallized both in her personality and in her face. It is regretful that in the name of Hazrat Zahra and under such conditions, the current ruling government is preparing for Women's Day and Women's week, particularly when they have digressed kilometers from her character, her religious behavior and ideals and are acting in a way that is contrary to her views. Justice and seeking freedom were only one of the dimensions of her personality and her example and holiness continue to provide light and hope for the believers.

Can we accept that the current ruling government believes in Sedigheh Kobra Zahra? Can they be believers when they lie to this extent? Can they be believers when they repress women and men? Can they be believers when they block and stifle the airways of freedom?

It is not surprising that in this day and week, the ruling government is incapable of hearing the cries of the children separated from their mothers - those innocent children who wait endlessly for the grace and caress of mothers that are either in prison or have been killed. Children who have no one to turn to but to the grace of God.

The ruling government chuckles at the faces of mothers waiting behind prison doors, hopeful to see their sons and daughters. Mothers who leave no stone unturned, running from one place to the next just to be abused, humiliated and given false promises. They chuckle at women whose husbands have either been buried for a long time or are being threatened and tortured in prisons. Mothers who look forward to their children marrying and completing their university education. Mothers who rather than celebrating with their loved ones are standing at their grave site engulfed with sadness and pain and participating in a festival of tears and sorrow.

As the day and week of Women is arriving in the holy name of Hazrat Zahra, I announce to the ruling government to take advantage of this immense opportunity and for once prove the credibility of their words and actions. These occasions should not always be excuses for the robbers of freedom and murderers. For once take advantage of an occasion and use it as an excuse to free political prisoners.

Release all prisoners in the memory of the passing of Hazrat Zahra. Start with female political prisoners. Be sure that you will not lose face and no one will claim that you have retreated. Later in subsequent steps provide freedom of press, individual freedoms, non interference in people's private lives, free and fair elections, etc. in order to establish freedom and democracy.

We women ask the scholars and Grand Ayatollahs in all their religious glory, to force the ruling government to free prisoners and respond to the demands of the people.

Signed Zahra Rahnavard

Source: Kaleme http://www.kaleme.com/1389/03/10/klm-21111


دکتر زهرا رهنورد در آستانه سالروز ولادت حضرت فاطمه زهرا(س) و هفته زن در بیانیه ای ضمن تکریم شخصیت والای فاطمه صدیقه(س)ایشان را نه فقط الگویی برای زن مسلمان که نماد تام و کمال اسلام دانست. به گزارش کلمه متن بیانیه زهرا رهنورد به شرح زیر است:

سالروز تولد حضرت فاطمه زهرا(س) دخت گرامی پیامبر اسلام و روز زن را به شما ملت عزیز تبریک عرض می کنم.

امیدوارم آن بانوی اطهر، آن بانوی بی همتا با تمام ابعاد وجودیش از کلمات روحانی و معنوی و علمی تا نقش های سیاسی و اجتماعی، لطافت مادری و همسری، پیوسته در نقطه اوج آرزوهای انسانی قرار گیرد.

جنبش سبز ضمن وحدت کم نظیرش در عین حال مشحون از تکثرهاست و این طراوت و تنوع فرصت می دهد که به تمام رفتارهای زیبای بشری ارج نهیم و به تمام الگوهای عدالت طلب و آزادی خواه در سطح جهان احترام گذاریم.

در عین حال در قلمرو باور و ایمان اسلامی به فاطمه زهرا تاسی می کنیم و در برابر شخصیت متعالی او سر تعظیم فرود می آوریم.

لحظه ای فراموش نمی کنیم که آن بانو چه رنج های عظیمی برای ارتقا و پیشبرد اسلام به جان خریدند و بدن عنصریشان در اوج جوانی به خاک تیره پیوست اما راهشان و روحشان همچنان برای مومنان و آزادیخواهان مستدام خواهد ماند.

اصلاحات و در بطن آن جنبش سبز، مطمئن است که لازم است با نگاه نو اندیشی دینی و با رویکردی معاصر، شخصیت حضرت زهرا (س) روایت شده و به انسان های مدرن شناسانده شود. اما، حضرت زهرا(س)، نه تنها الگویی برای زنان بلکه، نماد تام و کمال اسلام است، که این دین حنیف، به تمامی در چهره و شخصیت ایشان متبلور شده است. جای تأسف و تأثر است که حاکمیت فعلی، در شرایطی با تأسی به نام زهرا(س) به تدارک روز زن و هفته زن می پردازد که فرسنگ ها از آن شخصیت و آن رفتار دینی فاصله گرفته و جهت عکس آن بانویی بوده است که آزادگی و عدالت طلبی فقط یکی از ابعاد وجودی او بوده و وجه مثالی و الهیش همیشه قلب های مومنان را نورانی و امیدوار کرده است.

آیا می توان پذیرفت که حاکمیت به صدیقه کبری، زهرا(س) اعتقاد داشته باشد، و تا این حد دروغ بگوید، زنان و مردان را سرکوب کند و راه تنفس آزادی را با خفه کردن حلقوم ها، مسدود کند؟

شگفتا در همین هفته و روز حاکمیت ضجه کودکانی را که در فراق مادران زندانیشان ناله می کنند نمی شنود، آن بچه های مظلوم که در انتظار لطف و نوازش مادرانشان که یا در زندانند یا به خاک و خون خفته اند لحظه شماری می کنند و فریاد رسی جز خدا ندارند.

حاکمیت با ریشخند، به چهره مادرانی که پشت درهای زندان ها به امید دیدن پسران یادخترانشان هاجروار این سو و آن سو می دوند و تحقیر می شوند و وعده سرخرمن می بینند نگاه می کند.

زنانی که مرد خانواده شان مدت هاست که در گور خفته یا در زندان تهدید و شکنجه شده اند، مادرانی که آرزوی دامادی و عروسی و تحصیل جوانانشان را به جای جشن بر سر گورشان سوگواره غم و آه می گیرند و فستیوال اشک و افسوس برگزار می کنند.

اینک روز زن و هفته زن به نام نامی حضرت زهرا فرا رسیده است.

به حاکمیت فعلی اعلام می کنم این فرصت بزرگ را غنیمت شمارید و یکبار هم که شده صدق گفتار و عملتان را ثابت کنید. مناسبت ها همیشه نباید بهانه آزادی دزدان و آدم کشان باشد یکبار هم مناسبت ها را بهانه آزادی زندانیان سیاسی قرار دهید.

همه زندانیان را به پاس بزرگداشت زهرا(س) آزاد کنید و این اقدام را با زنان زندانی آغاز کنید، مطمئن باشید کوچک نمی شوید و کسی نمی گوید جا زده اید.

سپس در مراحل بعدی آزادی مطبوعات، آزادی های فردی، عدم دخالت در زندگی خصوصی مردم،انتخابات آزاد و… تا آزادی و مردمسالاری میسر شود.

ما زنان از علما و مراجع عظام می خواهیم با دم مسیحائیشان حاکمیت را وادار به آزادی زندانیان و پاسخ به مطالبات مردم نمایند و چنین باد.

12 May 2010

Zahra Rahnavard: Why executions?


Source: The Green Voice of Freedom

Zahra Rahnavard, wife of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, has expressed her outrage over the horrific executions of the five political prisoners last Sunday. The full translated text of her written piece published by Jaras website is as follows:

The provocative and violent executions carried out by the regime in recent days, especially the execution of five young individuals on Sunday 9 May under the pretext that they belonged to antirevolutionary groups raises different questions for the mind of any freedom seeking and critical person. Questions such as:

• Why execution? Why are the worst types of punishment applied against individuals and the nation?

• Were the judicial proceedings carried out in a just way? Do confessions obtained under torture have any legal worth?

• Were these actions, rulings and executions carried out by the judiciary independently or did they take place under pressure exerted by security forces?

• Were these hasty executions a way of taking vengeance on the people just before the first anniversary of the 12th of June?

• The Green Movement, with all its diversity and pluralism seeks the strengthening of central rule and national unity among all of Iran’s ethnic groups while respecting minority rights. Yet why is it that the current rulers move towards provoking an ancient ethnic group by oppression and execution of Kurdish minority and youth? And the key question is: are these actions in favour of national unity or in the favour of separatism with all its implications?

• Is execution and violence against God’s most benign subjects a cause for pride for the regime or a sign of weakness and desperation? This, despite our prophet description of women as a flowers.

• Despite all the regime’s claims of being an Islamic one, have these violent actions, interrogations, long-term imprisonments and the executions made Islam more appealing for women or have they indeed caused the cynicism of women and the youth towards Islam in a way that even fundamental practices such as praying and fasting are being questioned? This slaughter of women means that the regime has finally given in to the calls for it to eliminate discrimination; however this time it has done so by applying the same level of oppression to everyone, both men and women through imprisonment, torture, interrogations, subpoenas and execution. And at the same time, the regime prevents measures banning discriminatory and dominating laws in its relevant bodies and courts. Finally, as Zahra Rahnavard, a small member of this nation, I would like to send a message to all the mourning mothers and women whose sons and husbands have either been executed or murdered on the streets at the hands of mercenaries: Oh brave and courageous women! I am with you in this time of sadness and grief, and know that the bloods will culminate in victory and the reward for the heavy price of losing the youth will be freedom and democracy, but alas, for the regime oppresses the nation; a nation that has no sanctuary but God himself.

9 May 2010

Five political prisoners executed in Tehran today



According to the reports from Iran five political prisoners were executed in Tehran’s Evin prison early this morning, Sunday 9 May.

According to the official Iranian news agency IRNA, four men and one women, all convicted of Moharebeh (waging war against God), were hanged at Evin prison today.

Four of those executed were the kurdish political prisoners Farzad Kamangar, Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili and Shirin Alamhooli, all convicted of membership in PJAK (the Iranian branch of PKK), while the fifth person was Mehdi Eslamian convicted of involvement in a bomb explosion in 2008 in Shiraz.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of Iran Human Rights condemned today’s executions and said: "None of the five executed today had fair trials and they had been subjected to torture while in prison". He continued: "We ask the UN, EU and the international community to condemn these execution". He added: "Several other political prisoners are at imminent danger of execution and the world community should let that happen."

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According to one twitter activist neither their families nor their lawyers were notified about the executions. They first heard about it in the news.

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پنج زندانی سیاسی در زندان اوین اعدام شدند

حقوق بشر ایران، ۱۹ اردیبهشت ۱۳۸۹: بنا به گزارشهای رسیده از ایران زندانیان سیاسی فرزاد کمانگر، علی حیدریان، فرهاد وکیلی، شیرین علم‌هولی و مهدی اسلامیان بامداد امروز در زندان اوین تهران به دار آویخته شدند. خبرگزاری رسمی حکومت ایران ایرنا به نقل ازدادسراي عمومي و انقلاب تهران نوشت که فرزاد کمانگر به اتهام محاربه و عضویت در گروه پ. ک. ک. ، علی حیدریان، فرهاد وکیلی و شیرین علم‌هولی به اتهام محاربه و عضویت در گروه پژاک و مهدی اسلامیان به اتهام شرکت در بمبگذاری حسینیه شیراز به اعدام محکوم شده بودند.

محمود امیری مقدم سخنگوی سازمان حقوق بشر ایران در این رابطه گفت: ما این جنایات را شدیدا محکوم میکنیم. همگی این افراد در دادگاههای نمایشی محاکمه شده بودند و در زندان تحت شکنجه قرار داشتند. وی افزود: ما از سازمان ملل، اتحادیه اروپا و جامعه بین المللی میخواهیم که اعدام های امروز را محکوم کنند. هم اکنون احتمال اعدام زندانیان سیاسی دیگری از جمله زینب جلالیان، رمضان احمد، فرهاد چالش، رستم ارکیا، فصیح یاسمنی، رشید آخ کندی و حسین خزری، در زندانهای حکومت ایران وجود دارد و جامعه بین المللی باید از این اعدامها جلوگیری کند.


29 August 2009

Deadly Fatwa

Iran’s 1988 Prison Massacre

From News Blaze August 27, 2009

"The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC)" has "released a report documenting and analyzing the Iranian government's massacre of political prisoners during the summer of 1988.
[…]
In late July 1988, pursuant to a *fatwa* issued by then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranian government began systematically interrogating, torturing and summarily executing thousands of political prisoners. […] Although the exact number of victims is not known, thousands of prisoners were tortured and executed over the course of only a few months.
[…]
The Iranian government has never identified those who were secretly executed and tortured, and has never issued an explanation for this crime. However, many of the men who were responsible for the massacre continue to hold positions of power in the Iranian government."



20 August 2009

Blindfolded Witnesses

A documentary on political prisoners in Iran 1981–1991

Just as the study of tree-rings allows scientists to understand the present in historical context with the conditions of the past, former political prisoners of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s prison system must undergo the same process in order to reconcile their tortured past with the present. In the video “Blindfolded Witness,” seven former Iranian political prisoners tell their personal stories of life behind Iran’s prison walls. Each strives to answer a simple question posed by Jorge Luis Borges: “What will die with me, when I die?”

For background, these individuals endured on average 10-years of imprisonment during the period of 1981-1991. Years such as 1983 and 1988 were particularly brutal when mass executions occurred. The mass executions in 1983 were meant to dehumanize the prisoners. When visits between prisoners and their families were eventually allowed, two lines formed outside the prison walls: one line for those who survived and the other for the executed. During the 1988 mass executions, parents weren’t allowed to visit their loved ones in prison. The only way they knew about the status of a loved-one was whether or not a postman arrived at their door carrying a letter sent from the prison. Sometimes executions were announced only in the media, so many parents had to read the newspapers to see if their loved-ones were alive. During some years of this era, Wednesdays served as the day of execution when names were called out over a loudspeaker. On other occasions, executions were simply announced by the hail of gun shots, with the last shot used to finish off the prisoner.

Let Tahmineh explain to you her experience with “torture orders” and how it necessitated the wear of a pair of large men’s slippers. Learn what “beatings to death” meant when interrogators could beat someone until they got information or until the prisoner was dead. Hear what Pardeh-dari (canvas play) was and what the terms “graves,” “coffins,” and “boxes” referred to. Learn why people celebrated when they were sentenced to 5, 10, or 12 years in prison. Let Manouchehr explain why the bruises on his wrists lasted for years. And, if the psychological torture inflicted on these prisoners were not enough, many did go insane or experienced mental breakdowns, listen to their stories of young children being raised in this inhumane environment and the psychological impact it created.

As the narrator of these interviews states, the goal of torture is to: 1) destroy the prisoner’s physical strength, and 2) transform them into a different being. This process begins at the moment they’re detained until the time of their release from prison. Words alone cannot describe the horrific experiences these former detainees endured, but one thing is known—these experiences were all created by an Islamic Republic regime—in the name of religion. Their experiences of imprisonment and torture will stay with them until their last breath, but silence only nourishes a tumor that grows and eventually destroys from the inside. This only fosters continued injustice for the victim.

via Association of Iranian Political Prisoners (in Exile)