Saturday, November 28, 2009

Newsletter for Saturday 28th November 2009

Student Information Center (SIC)

Newsletter Issue 135 - Saturday November 28th, 2009                                                                                                                                                              





Future Plans:
--Iranian-style protests, Thursday evening, go to parks and around in the city with family.
--Accompanying mothers of the green movement victims in Laleh Park – every Saturday afternoon.
--Chanting on the roof tops the night of Dec 6th (Azar 15th).

--Spreading news about Dec 7 (Azar 16th) demonstrations on the anniversary of Student Day in private and public universities across the country; inviting people and students to attend these ceremonies in universities.

News:
--Norooz: In an exclusive interview with a Dutch Channel 2 television program, Iranian opposition leader, Mehdi Karroubi discussed his thoughts about the recent violence the government has been exercising against election protesters. Mehdi Karroubi, who has been personally attacked several times in the post-election events, maintained that he never believed the election dispute would become confrontational and he especially did not expect the extent of violence would reach the level it has. Mr. Karroubi added: "It is a new thing for me that they violently beat women and easily attack seniors. We were very active during Shah's (Iran's last monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi) time and in those days they did not beat people like this. In demonstrations, they in effect tried to merely shoo people away and disperse them." Karroubi in response to a question about the probability of his own arrest said: "there is nothing that we can say it is impossible".

--Taghir Website: On Wednesday while Mehdi Karroubi had travelled to Qom, around 1:00am a group of 60 bike riders dressed in Basij uniforms gathered in front of Karroubi's mansion. They continued shouted against Karroubi and called him names. They chanted slogans such as "death to the anti-mullah rule". Finally, due to low temperatures and the intervention of police they left the location.

--Mowj-camp: The family of Kianoush Asa, the student of Elm-O-Sanat University, who got killed in the incidents after the election, published a letter to the nation and asked for clarifications on the hidden perspectives of their son and for the punishment of those responsible for this horrible killing.
--Norooz: The first day after the release of Behzad Nabavi, Mousavi went to Khatam-Ol-Anbia hospital to visit Nabavi who once was the Minister of heavy industries in Mousavi's administration. Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, were amongst the political figures visiting Nabavi on Thursday.

--Norooz: On the 11th anniversary of establishment of Jebhe Mosharekat, an announcement was published by the Mojahedin Enghelab Eslami. In this announcement, the role of this political establishment in the last decade in Iran has been praised and the announcement says: "When tens of members of this political party are in jail for no legitimate reason, and its central office has been sealed against the law, the torch of seeking the truth and justice is still shining from the horizon of this party and is warming the souls of those who love freedom and truth."

-- Radio Zamaneh: The White House says new charges against New School University professor Kian Tajbakhsh are "baseless." Tajbakhsh was arrested in his home in Tehran in July on charges that he had led in organizing the massive aniti-government demonstrations this year after incumbent Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won disputed elections. A renowned American-Iranian scholar, Tajbakhsh was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison in October. His detention included three months in solitary confinement, according to Amnesty International, which has called his sentence a "judicial travesty." This week, the New York Times reported that the 47-year-old had been charged with "spying for the George Soros foundation." Soros, one of the world's richest men and leading philanthropists, is chairman of the Open Society Institute, which advocates for human rights and democratic governance. The new allegations prompted the White House to issue a statement, "The charges against Mr. Tajbakhsh are baseless, and his original sentence on October 20 was an outrage." "The Iranian government cannot earn the respect of the international community when it violates universal rights, and continues to imprison innocent people. We call on the Islamic Republic of Iran to release Mr. Tajbakhsh, and to respect the human rights of those within its borders," the White House added.
-- Radio Zamaneh: Commander Hossein Alati, the ex-chief of the coalition of guards, warned against the conversion of "Baseej" to a job description and said, "Baseej should not act as a sheriff around the city". This conversion would significantly reduce the potentials of this institution.
-- Radio Farda: Mohsen Makhmalbaf presented his prize, "the freedom of creation", to those affected in the recent events and specifically offered it to Ayatollah Montazeri as the "spiritual father of the green movement".
-- Radio Farda: The US State Department has condemned the confiscation of Shirin Ebadi's Noble Peace Medal and blockage of her bank accounts by the Iranian regime and has asked that the Islamic Republic put an end to the threats against this human rights activist.
-- Jaras: The representative of the supreme leader in schools said: "The green movement is not a movement but a dirty conspiracy by other countries and the heads of anarchy and they committed a grave mistake by choosing the green color which has a great sanctity in our country".


NEWS OF THE ARRESTED, MISSING, AND DECEASED
--Jaras: Despite an agreement from the public prosecutor in Tehran, Fariba Pazhouh is still denied bail and remains in prison.
--Radio Farda: Three human rights organizations have published letter demanding an investigation into the suspicious death of Ramin Pourandarjani, the medical resident of Kahrizak prison.
--Jaras: On Friday, Behzad Nabavi, was temporarily released from the hospital and sent home for a brief period. He returned home after five and a half months. He'll return to the hospital on Monday to continue his treatments.
--Jaras: On Sunday Nov. 22nd, Sasan Aghayi, journalist and blogger, was arrested at his home by the security forces. According to an anonymous source, his signature under a letter from the journalists and political activists to the spiritual leaders has been the reason for his indictment.
--Radaio Zamaneh: The 15 months imprisonment of Abbas Jalilian, the Kurdish author and researcher, has been executed.
--Norooz: The verdicts against the political activists and prisoners, who have been arrested after the disputed elections, continue to pour in. According to recent verdicts, the cumulative sentence of only 18 prisoners exceeds 113 years.


Recommendations and Warnings:
--A new anti-filtering strategy: 1- Visit AOL.com, 2- register an account (sign up for a free email), 3- download free software (AOL 9.5), 4- sign into your account in AOL 9.5, 5- enjoy surfing high speed internet without filtering.
--Mohsen Sazegara described the following in his daily discussion of Thursday: 1. The students of Qazvin University have gone on food strike to protest the arrests of their friends. 2. The workers of the Ziaran meat products have gone on strike because they haven't received their salaries for a few month. 3. In his 15th statement, Mousavi has described what are Basij's responsibilities and has scolded them for cooperating with regime, which is in contrast to supreme leader's definition of Basij in which Khamanei considers Basij at service to himself and on his own side. 4. The green movement still needs to grow in several aspects: geographical, joining other human rights groups, quality and organization and decentralization.

--In his daily discussion on Friday, Mohsen Sazegara talked about the following issues: 1. Basij militia have held their gathering in Mosalla because they didn't have enough people to fill the Azadi stadium. 2. The taxi drivers are refusing to give rides to the members of Basij which shows how they have lost respect and legitimacy. 3. On Friday they were supposed to have 7 million people take it to the streets and support the regime, which didn't happen. 4. Behzad Nabavi is now in a hospital and he has met Mirhossein Mousavi. 5. The students in Venezuela protested the appearance of Ahmadinejad to show their support of the Iranian students. 6. El-baradei has lost all hope in Iran and this harbingers new sanctions against Iran. 7. It is important to chant "God is great" from the roof tops on the night of December 6th.
--In his daily discussion on Saturday Mohsen Sazegara discussed the following topics: 1. He pointed out that what was supposed to be a 6million man Basij march had been converted to one hundred thousand at the Azadi Stadium and finally to ten thousand in the Mosalla square. Once again he invited the regime to show the support they claim they have in 24million voters on the streets. He added that this event for the Basij week show how little support the regime has despite paying people for their support. 2. In the end he described some of the points made in the first statement of the coordination committee of the student's green movement: The programs on December 7th are to be held in the afternoon at the same time in all the universities and it is important to keep the on time. Ordinary people have been invited to join the students at the university that is closest to them. If it isn't possible to enter the university campus, people can hold demonstrations near the campus or anywhere else. It is important to avoid being violent and being beaten on this day and the students should familiarize themselves with the scape routs in advance. The schools (k-12) have also been invited to join the university students on December 7th, so have been, for the first time, the members of the army and the revolutionary guard. The leaders of the green movement are being scheduled for seminars on campuses the schedule of which will be announced accordingly.



Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Newsletter for Wednesday 25th November 2009

Student Information Center (SIC)

Newsletter Issue 134 - Wednesday November 25th, 2009                                                                                                                                                              



Future Plans:
--Iranian-style protests, Thursday evening, go to parks and around in the city with family.
--Accompanying mothers of the green movement victims in Laleh Park – every Saturday afternoon.

--Spreading news about Dec 7 (Azar 16th) demonstrations on the anniversary of Student Day in private and public universities across the country; inviting people and students to attend these ceremonies in universities.


News:
--BBC News: In the anniversary of the establishment of Basij, Mir Hossein Mousavi published a statement, warning about the transformation of Basij into the "repression machine" of the government. In his statement that was published today, Wednesday 25th of November, he said: "Basij was not established to become the worker of the government and to get per capita reward when arresting people". He added: "the new generation who are called 'Basij' today are in the darkest doubts and tests. Some want Basij to become the repression machines who beats, arrests, hurts, and murders humans under the mere crime of calling for justice."   
--BBC: Iranian Writers Association, in response to "police preventing them from holding the anniversary ceremony for the victims of the political murders known as murder chain" published a statement. In the statement, objection to "continuation of the repressions" has been announced, and it reads: "even though the ceremony in the previous years have been held under constraints, this year, with unusual lining of police and military forces, any sympathy with families of the victims was prevented."
--ParlemanNews: Mohammad Khatami met with members of Islamic Association of Medical Society and said: "Unfortunately we see today is theorized violence is becoming practical, and this violence is targeted towards many people who were friends of the Revolution and Imam." 
He added: "Of course in this country there are those who do not even accept this regime, but are willing to move within the legal system and we are proud to defend their rights; because as a citizen, they have rights just like others, unless as Imam said, they were after conspiracy and removal of the regime."
--Radio Farda: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran issued a statement on Tuesday, reporting about the arrest of several students in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the security forces, in an effort to prevent further protests in 16th of Azar- the national student day. Hadi Ghaemi, spokesman of the human rights organization, said: "for silencing the student movement, they are suppressing the students completely, which not only is against the students' rights, but also hurts the education path and their families' lives."
--Green path movement (JRS): Ahmadinejad's government once again renewed its pressure on the IRIB(state TV) to stop broadcasting popular sports programs. Government supporters have suggested that even if the program is not stopped, either Adel Ferdosipour should be removed from the program, or the program should move to the hour 3 in the morning. These efforts have increased after recent days in Navad program, serious criticisms has been targeted towards Ahmadinejad government's officials and their policies.
--Green path movement (JRS):  After the Conference "Greens and religion" in the department of Social Sciences in  Tehran University which was held with support of the Islamic Association of this university, on Tuesday 3rd of Azar, the second panel discussion of the conference was held in the Medicine Department of Tehran University. 10 prominent Iranian sociologist were giving speeches in the past two weeks, in which they analyzed and theorized about various aspects of the green movement, including the religious, social, etc.
 
NEWS OF THE UNIVERSITIES
--Green Wave of Freedom: Following protests in recent days in Khajeh Nasir University about continuous illegal detention of "Ali Parviz" and "Soheil Mohammadi", Yesterday, ten students of this university were summoned to the disciplinary committee. These students are asked to report to the committee, to give explanations about the allegations such as attending the protesting gatherings, stimulating other students to participate in the gatherings, participation in the hunger strike, disrupting university's order, and having political activities in student associations.
--Norouz: HamidReza Amirkhani, Mehdi Khosravi and Amin Riahi, students of the Ferdosi University of Mashhad, were charged by the Revolutionary Court to distributing propaganda against regime and working with foreign groups who are against the regime, and they were sentenced to paying fine.
--Green wave of freedom: Close to 16th of Azar, the national student day, about 100 students of Ahvaz Azad University, and 50 students of Najaf Abad Azad University have been summoned to disciplinary committee.


NEWS OF THE ARRESTED, MISSING, AND DECEASED
--Green wave of freedom: Behzad Nabavi was sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment by the revolutionary court, and went to a 10 day leave under a bail of 800 million Tomans(800 thousand dollars). 
--Norouz: RamezanZadeh's wife said: Mr. RamezanZadeh has said in their last meeting that we have not commited any illegal actions, but do not believe that we will be freed, because if they were to do that, all their work so far will be in vein. She quoted RamezanZadeh: I am defending the Islamic Republic, but I oppose Ahmadinejad, and I will not step back from my opinion. 


Recommendations and Warnings:
--A new anti-filtering strategy: 1- Visit AOL.com, 2- register an account (sign up for a free email), 3- download free software (AOL 9.5), 4- sign into your account in AOL 9.5, 5- enjoy surfing high speed internet without filtering.


--Mohsen Sazgara released his daily videos of Tuesday and Wednesday:
- He said the installation of the camera in the universities is a problem and we should either stop them from working, or use masks to cover our faces when attending political gatherings.
- He gave news about the gathering of Mazandaran Textile workers because of the non-payment of their wages.
- His mentioned the statement of a group of liberal activists, who had pointed out the importance of resistance of student movements against the pressures.
- He invited people to protest to the sentence given to Ahmad Zeidabadi.
- About paralyzing the government he gave examples of Italian strike (white strike), not completing the works and general strikes, boycotting goods produced by state government, especially those produced by the Revolutionary Guards or those who broadcast ads in state TV.
- The lack of investment, he said, is another way to cause paralysis. (In Tehran, housing market has fallen 60%)
- He said outside of Iran to the Iranians are pressuring to boycott companies that Iranian Revolutionary Guards have shares in.
- He said other pressures are under way to condemn the revolutionary guards in international courts for terrorist operations.
- He mentioned five gaps: sexual, generational, economical, scientific and ethnic in current Iranian society, and said that the green movement must fill these gaps to be able to reach its goals. 
- He said so far, the actions to paralyze the government has been effective, because even now the economy of the country has been affected and the government is not capable of running the country, and said that the end of this process will be when general and simultaneous strikes will overthrown the coup government. But he said this is dependent on the government being paralyzed, or divided such that some parts stand up against others and some parts join people.
- He reminded that every day we don't need million scale demonstrations, and that when the repression rises, other methods like writing slogans on walls and on the bills, scattered protests like that of 16th of Azar, and similar actions work better. 


Email: student.information.center@gmail.com


Monday, November 23, 2009

Newsletter for Monday 23rd November 2009

Student Information Center (SIC)

Newsletter Issue 133 - Monday November 23rd, 2009                                                                                                                                                              




Future Plans:
--Iranian-style protests, Thursday evening, go to parks and around in the city with family.
--Accompanying mothers of the green movement victims in Laleh Park – every Saturday afternoon.

--Spreading news about Dec 7 (Azar 16th) demonstrations on the anniversary of Student Day in private and public universities across the country; inviting people and students to attend these ceremonies in universities.



News:
--Radio Farda: Ahmad Zeidabadi, a journalist and the Secretary of Advar Tahkim Vahdat organization, after spending more than five months in detention, was sentences by the Revolutionary Court to six years in prison, five years in exile in Gonabad, and a lifelong deprivation of right to engage in social and political activities.
--Radio Farda: Islamic Iran Participation Front condemned the treatment of political activists in prison and dismissed the announced sentences, and warned that "people of Iran will certainly not submit to the regime's authoritarian and repressive methods" The statement says: "the performance of the government over more than five months after the elections, has left serius and successive impacts on the whole system, specially with regard to popular support and the value content."
--Radio farda: Freedom Movement of Iran published a statement about  after elevtion developments in Iran, regarded the contiuouation of the protests despite the passing of five months, a sign of the depth of the green movement, and said that the victory of this movement depends on the pursuite of peaceful methods. Freedom Movement of Iran pointed to the "very heavy spending of funds for control and repression of the green movement by the government" and added: "the widespread presence of protestors in official and public gatherings in the Qods day and 13th of Aban, made evident the fact that this movement can not be turned off with the military and security methods ".
--Radio farda: Parastou Forouhar, Dariush and Parvaneh Forouhar's daughter, on Sunday had an Interview with Radio Farda and gave news of the heavy presence of police and security forces to prevent the gathering of public and even close family relatives in the eleventh anniversary of the murder of her parents. Referring to the anniversary ceremony at the home of the  Forouhars, she said: "The police and security forces, with their extensive presence around the house of the Forouhars, stopped people from getting close to the house. Dariush Forouhar, leader of the Iranian nation party, and his wife Parvaneh Eskandari, were murdered on the first of Azar (23rd of November) in 1377 by knife in their house. Few months later and after two other writers and intellectuals were murdered -a case which was known as the "serial murders"-, the security officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced "self-motivated and wronged members"in the Ministry of Intelligence as the responsibles for the murders.
--Change for Equality website: Mehrnoush Etemadi, activists One Million Signatures Campaign was arrested in Isfahan on Monday. On Monday evening in a phone call to her home, she gave news of her transfer to Dastgerd prison of Isfahan. One Million Signatures Campaign, which has been formed three years ago, aims to revise the discriminatory laws against women in Iran. So far dozens of members of this campaign have been arrested and tried.
--Radio farda: In continuoution of the wave of arrest of students and journalists, on Sunday 1st of Azar(23rd of November), Sasan Aghayi, a journalist and blogger, was arrested by security agents. Sasan Aghayi, a 28-year-old journalist, was one of the authors of the banned newspapers Farhikhtegan, and nEtemaad Melli(national trust).
--BBC News: Deputy Minister of Culture said the Hamshahri newspaper has been banned by the Press Supervisory Board, due to release a photo of the Baha'i temple in India. Hamshahri newspaper is affiliated to Tehran Municipality publications, and on its first page in the first day of Azar, advertised for a trip to India, which included a photo of a temple, which according to supervision cometee, is owned by Baha'is. 
--Radio farda: Hundreds of Brazilians on Sunday, ahead of the journey of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to this country atended protesting marchs in Rio de Janeiro and condemned this trip. According to the reports, more than 500 Holocaust survivors, African-Brazilian artists, Christians, Jews and homosexuals right activists, with a demonstration in the city of Rio de Janeiro gave slogans against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and protested to his trip to Brazil. 
--Norouz: Saeed Mortazavi, Tehran prosecutor has been arrested in 2007 because of a case of several financial and moral corruption charges, under a sentence from Hashemi Shahroudi, head of the judiciary at the time. A lawyer with told Norouz that: The arrest of Saeed Mortazavi was not made public at all. He added: Former prosecutor of Tehran who was arrested by an order of Hashemi Shahroudi, was freed after two nights, with supports from higher power institutions.


NEWS OF THE UNIVERSITIES
--Radio Farda: More than 50 students in Najaf-Abad Azad University  were called to the disciplinary committee, due to the presence in the gatherings of 13th of Aban. Reports say that the installation of cameras around the universities and colleges, as well as implementation of gender separation travel services and intensified security has stirred more protests after 13th of Aban.
--Green Wave: More than 150 graduates of Sharif University signed a statement demanded the release Hojjat Sharifi and Nafiseh Zare' Kan.   
--Green wave of freedom: Few weeks before the 16th of Azar, and to create atmosphere of fear in universities, more than 10 student activists in Shahrekord University were summoned to the intelligence office of this city.
--AUT news: Following the student rally held on Sunday, Azar 1st(23rd of November),  protesting to the detention of Ali Parviz and Soheil Mohammadi in Civil Engineering Department of Khajeh Nasir University, plainclothes and Basiji members of the university attacked the protesting students and caused chaos in campus area.


NEWS OF THE ARRESTED, MISSING, AND DECEASED
--BBC News: Mohammad Ali Abtahi, the legal and parliamentary consultor of the president during Mohammad Khatami's presidency, who was arrested after the Iranian presidential election in June, was freed with a 700 million toman(700 thousand dollars) bail. Mr. Abtahi the most prominent cleric arrested after the election, has been sentenced to 6 years of prison in 30th of Aban(22nd of November)by preliminary court.
--Green wave:, Saeed Habibi, former office secretary of Consolidating Unity Organization(Tahkim Vahdat Organization), and a member of Human Rights Committee, was charged with propaganda against the Islamic Republic and collusion against national security, and was sentenced to three-year imprisonment.


Recommendations and Warnings:
--A new anti-filtering strategy: 1- Visit AOL.com, 2- register an account (sign up for a free email), 3- download free software (AOL 9.5), 4- sign into your account in AOL 9.5, 5- enjoy surfing high speed internet without filtering.



--Mohsen Sazgara pointed to the followings in his daily videos on Sunday and Monday:

-About the student arrests and increasing violence in universities, he said that Coup supporters are trying to disorganize the Iranian student movement by imprisoning student activists and preventing the student activities. But since the student organization has a bottom ip organization, imprisonment of the activists does not impact the movement, and in 16th of Azar, you will see how student movement will present its political action.
- He said the establishment of a military government in Kurdistan, Sanandaj and other cities is a repeated step that the coup government takes to scare people, and said that given the reactiton of people in the past 5 months, this is no longer effective. 
- About the weekly gathering of mothers of victims of the after election protests in Laleh Park, he said that the repressive forces wanted to arrest a young man, but mothers used the right way to protect the person, by surrounding him and standing between him and the forces, and at the end security forces where forced to leave.
- He reviewed the movement's aims, and said that the final goal is to remove the coup government but that goal depends on three other sub goals:
1 - removing the legitimacy of the coup government and any governmental instituation that supports this government.
2 - to wear this government out and create a division in between them
3 - paralysising the coup government
He said the revolutionary guards is the core of the power of the coup government, which is holding key positions in security, financial and military and repressional fields, and so it must be our main target.
- He said the political actions taken place so far are of three categories: Category I: Actions that strengthen solidarity and public resistance, such as Allaho Akbar slogans at nights, or boycotting or protesting in million scale. Category 2: Actions that wear the coup government out, such as actitons that puts financial burden on their military budget(best type in this category would be scattered, geographically spread protests), and Category 3: paralysising actions.



Email: student.information.center@gmail.com


Sunday, November 22, 2009

Newsletter for Saturday 21st November 2009

Student Information Center (SIC)

Newsletter Issue 132 - Saturday November 21st, 2009                                                                                                                                                              

Future Plans:
--Iranian-style protests, Thursday evening, go to parks and around in the city with family.
--Accompanying mothers of the green movement victims in Laleh Park – every Saturday afternoon.
--Attending Dariush and Parvaneh Forouhar's memorial service on Sunday, November 22, 3-5 pm; No. 18, Moradzadeh St, Hedayat St, Tehran
--Spreading the word about Dec 7 (Azar 16th) demonstrations on the anniversary of Student Day in private and public universities across the country; inviting people and students to attend these  ceremonies in universities.

Summary of the News


-- JARAS: In his second interview via internet with "Kalameh", Mir Hossein Moussavi discussed the events in the aftermath of the election, the bill for targeted subsidies and its economic and social implications. He also commented on the vast number of security forces confronting people of Nov. 4th, implying that "such efforts are aimed at threatening people and instilling fear in the society". In this interview, he emphasized on the constitution as a minimal anchor around which all the forces of the green movement should gather. He also highlighted the fact that the people should refrain from violent clashes, even if they're treated harshly on the streets. (The complete text of this interview is attached online).
-- BBC: The UN General Assembly human rights committee adopted a resolution that condemned Iran for human rights violations against its citizens who protested during the highly disputed presidential elections. The resolution censured Iran for its human rights record, including the arbitrary arrests, detentions and the disappearance of Iranians who protested after the elections this year.
-- BBC: The United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has called the death sentences imposed by Iran for five people in connection with protests following the country's disputed presidential election, "distressing and very unfortunate". Mrs. Clinton made these comments in Kabol, where she is to attend Hamid Karzai's inauguration.
--JARAS: The families of the political detainees in a recent statement condemned the continued detention of their family members and stated that they will hold a rally in front of the office of public prosecution in Tehran on November 23rd.
-- JARAS: Pictures released by Mehr News Agency shows a cold reception of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by the people of Tabriz. Despite high levels of publicity, a population of 10,000 from the 1,000,000 people of Tabriz gathered in the Baghshemal stadium to welcome the president. The number of people was not high enough to even cover half of the grass.
-- BBC: The "office of strengthening unity" (Tahkim-e-Vahdat), has reported widespread arrests of student activists as December 7th (16 Azar) approaches. They have also released a statement in response to the detentions of Abbas Hakimzadeh, a member of this office in Amirkabir University. According to this statement, Mr. Hakimzadeh and a number of other students were detained for four and a half months last year while being tortured and coerced for false confessions. In this statement, the members have also voices their "serious" concern regarding the detentions of many students from Khaje-Nasir, Azad (Tehran and Tafresh), Sharif, Amirkabir and Elm_o_Sanat universities.
-- JARAS: Shirin Ebadi, the peace nobel laureate, in an interview pointed out that she's been repeatedly threatened by the security forces of the Islamic Republic. She deems these threats to stem from an effort to minimize her human rights activities. She mentioned that "her espouse and her family have been told that she'll not be safe, no matter where she is in the world". She mentioned, however, that these tactics would not be effective.
-- Radio Zamaneh: The Webby Awards, the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, released its list of the Top 10 Most Influential Internet Moments of the Decade. Among the top 10, is the use of Twitter during the Iranian election protests (2009). The New York-based International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences which bestows the annual Webby Awards (a.k.a the "Oscar of the internet") since 1996.

News of the Detainees, Martyrs and Missings
-- Deutsche Welle: More than 15 student activists were arrested in Tehran and other cities on Nov 19th. It seems that these detentions are aimed at controlling potential demonstrations on Dec 7th. A member of the "office of strengthening unity", however, believes that the demonstrations are driven by the student body and not the leaders. (SIC: the news snippets below contain the names of some of these detainees).
-- Advar News: Moahammad Ali Abtahi has been sentenced to 6 years in prison. Given the verdict, Mr. Abtahi's lawyer is going to prepare his bail. A primary version of Mohammad Atrianfar's verdict has also been announced but the sentence is not made public yet.
--Advar News: In continuation of the arresting of the student activists, Alireza Mousavi, Ahmad Mirtaheri, Alireza Zargar, Hamin Ghahvechian, Amir Kazempour and Yaser Masoumi were arrested on Thursday night in a coffee shop.
-- Advar News: Saeed Habibi, the chairman of the former Tahkim Vahdat organization and human right activist has been sentenced to three years in prison for advertising against the Islamic Republic regime and action against national security.
--Advar News: A group of current and former liberal activist university students in Tehran were arrested after a meeting they had in one of the group member's apartment. These activists include Mehrdad Bozorg, Soorena Hashemi, Alireza Mousavi, Farzan Ra'oufi, Ehsan Dolatshahi, Sina Shokoohi, and Alborz Zahedi.
--Advar News: Thursday afternoon, Neda Eskandari and Khadijeh Ghahremani were arrested by the security forces in Shiraz University.

Analysis

-- A summary of a report by Mehdi Hassani, entitled "An increase in the number of detained students; incompetence of the regime in handling the student movement", published in JARAS: Everyday, we hear of students being arrested all across the country. Nevertheless, the appearance of the supporters of Ahmadinejad in the universities is accompanied by mass reactions from the student body. Demonstrations, which started from a number of key universities, is now going rampant in many universities, including Azad universities that lacked independent student committees. As we approach December 7th, the day that may mark the demonstrations of the "green" students, pressure on the students is drastically increasing. In the meantime, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ezheyi, the chief public prosecutor, cautioned the opposition that "from now on, the Islamic Republic of Iran would firmly act against any action deemed deranging". A student activist tells JARAS, "...In the past several months, many students from universities such as Isfahan, Babel, Tehran, Shaharmahal, Beheshti, Shiraz, Amirjabir, RAzi, Ghazvin, Elmo Sanat and Mazandaran have been summoned to disciplinary committees or security institutes. But did they get any results? Have the demonstrations subsided? Has Saffar Harandi and those like him been able to enter universities and say whatever lies they want? or they've been massively confronted by the students?". the "office of strengthening unity" has released a memo stating that "as we approach Dec 7th, the widespread arrest of students in many universities (e.g. Khaje Nasir, Azad Tehran, Sharif, Amirkabir, Azad Tafresh and Elmo Sanat) and the chaotic behaviour of the official forces in controlling the protests has only resulted in a competition of social clashes and impediment". This statement adds, "what you see is the unified rage of the whole nation against the cruelty that you've served them in the name of religion. Sacrificing those whose words have always been in the framework of critique and enlightenment, would never benefit those in power".


Recommendations and Warnings:

--In his video broadcast on Thursday, Mohsen Sazgara mentioned the following points:
    -He re-emphasized that since November 4 rallies, Regime has adapted a strategy of pushing the Green Movement into violent activities, and this is something that we should be cautious about [especially] on December 6th Rallies. He added that the best way to stand against the suppressive violence [of Regime operatives] is for [the protestors] to stick together and stop beatings and detentions [by forming concentrated patches of crowd). He also emphasized that for December 6th rallies it is important to decide the location of protests [and gather altogether in those places].
    -Sazgara also emphasized that all Green Movement activists should specify a replacement for themselves to assume their responsibilities in case of their arrest or inability to perform their duties. He also added that he has already specified a replacement for himself since he continues to receive several threats every now and then; his replacement will be announced by his family if necessary.

On his video broadcast on Friday, Sazgara mentioned the following points:
    -He talked about Ahmadinejad's recent trip to [the northwestern city of] Tabriz , a trip which he sees as a blunder for Ahmadinejad since despite his supporters efforts to mobilize one hundred thousand people in welcoming him in Tabriz Stadium, only a few thousand showed up in his speech. This was such a shame that his supporters had no choice but to fabricate pictures of his visits [showing fake huge crowds welcoming him].
    -Sazagara also talked about the arrest of Abbas Hakimzadeh, Mehrdad Bozorg, Surna Hashemi, Ehsan Dolatshahi, Farzam Ra'ufi, Alborz Zahed, SIna Shokuhi and Alireza Mousavi, all student activists and emphasized that the Regime is still under the illusion that the December 6th rallies can be stopped by arresting student activists; however incidents of the last five months have shown that this [huge] popular movement with extensive human networks organized from the bottom is never hurt by such arrests and will continue working despite them.

In his video broadcast on Saturday, Mohsen Sazgara mentioned the following points:
    -He mentioned that the passage of a UN resolution condemning human rights violations in Iran with a wider margin this year shows that the international community has a close eye on what is going on in Iran.
    -He also talked about the widespread strikes in Kurdistan Province on Wednesday; however he complained about lack of photos/videos from those events. He emphasized that every act of protest, big or small, successful or unsuccessful, should be captured on camera since such photos/films can be used both to inform people and educate protestors.
    -At the end, in his response to a question, he mentioned that weakening the country's economy will handicap the Regime and will reveal their incompetence in being in charge. Despite possible difficulties that might be inflicted on ordinary people [in the short run], such an economic weakening is in the interest of people and the Green Movement in the long run.


Monday, November 16, 2009

Newsletter for Monday November 16th 2009

Student Information Center (SIC)

Newsletter Issue 130 - Monday November 16th, 2009                                                                                                                                                              

Future Plans:
--Iranian-style protests, Thursday evening, go to parks and around in the city with family.
--Accompanying mothers of the green movement victims in Laleh Park – every Saturday afternoon.

--Attending Dariush and Parvaneh Forouhar's memorial service on Sunday, November 22, 3-5 pm; No. 18, Moradzadeh St, Hedayat St, Tehran

--Spreading news about Dec 7 (Azar 16th) demonstrations on the anniversary of Student Day in private and public universities across the country; inviting people and students to attend these ceremonies in universities.


News:

--Jaras: Ramin Pourandarjani, the 26-year-old physician of Kahrizak detention was buried amidst security measures and his family was not allowed to conduct autopsy to discover the cause of death. A video of Dr Pourandarjani delivering his commencement speech is attached to this newsletter.
--BBC: Tehran Prosecutor's Office is a statement announced that the file of Kahrizak physician Dr Ramin Pourandarjani's death is under investigation at Criminal Prosecutor's office. This statement recalls that the body of this doctor was found on November 10 at his service department, and that the initial autopsy shows his death was not caused by poisoning.
--
Jaras: Tehran Revolutionary Court in a released statement announced that the closed trial of Engr. Shapour Kazemi, brother of Zahra Rahnavard was held on Sunday November 15. The Revolutionary Court also announced that the trial session of Saeed Leylaz, journalist and economic consultant will be held on Tuesday. According to this statement, Clotilde Reiss, the French citizen and teacher will also be tried at Tehran Revolutionary Court on Tuesday and that the prosecutor's representative and the lawyer of this French national will be present at the trial.

--Radio Zamaneh: Mehdi Karroubi called on the youth to not allow "troubled people" lead them towards harsh behaviors. While talking to a group of MPs from the minority fraction at his house last night, he advised the youth protesting to election results to abstain from "violent behaviors" at any condition.

--Radio Zamaneh: Over 100 independent human rights and civil society organizations across the world demanded UN representatives to support the UN General Assembly resolution condemning human rights violations in the Islamic Republic. These organization and institutes have expressed concerns regarding "deterioration" of human rights situation in Iran.

--Radio Zamaneh: Over 50 writers, critics and journalists in a letter to Sadeq Larijani, head of the Judiciary asked him to issue release command of Javad Mahzadeh, detained writer and journalist. Javad Mahzadeh was arrested at his house by prosecutor's officers about a month ago and has been detained since then. There has been no exact information reported about his fate and the judicial authorities have not declared his charges yet.

--In a meeting with members of University of Arts Islamic Association, Ayatollah Sanei said the increase and exacerbation of problems do not show domination of oppression but rather are signs of weakness. He also said: "Be sure that the nation's efforts especially dear academia will harvest." He added, "Although some people have become artistically successful in telling lies, some other are using all their art to struggle."

--Asr-e Iran: Mohammad Reza Shajarian's lawyer said this Master of Iranian music has been summoned to the Intelligence Ministry. He said last Saturday after Master Sharian returned to Iran, intelligence officers stationing at the airport invited him to go to a building on Jordan St. to have discussion and "deliver some explanations".

--AUT Newsletter: Students of Najaf-Abad Azad University in a union assembly protested against extremist action of university officials. These student who were unhappy about installation of surveillance videos inside departments and sexual segregation in university buses en-route Shiraz gate, Isfahan, expressed their protest by chanting slogans such as "Our dishonor, Our Culture Minister" and  "Student dies but does not accept abjection".

--Hana Makhmalbaf, a referee at Denmark Documentary Film Festival who is also attending this festival to display her movie "The Green Days", spread the color of Iranian people's movement to this festival. After this movie was displayed, the festival jury wore green scarves on solidarity with the movement of Iranian people.

--Norooz: The commemorative ceremony of Dariush and Parvaneh Forouhar [translator's note: two victims of 1998 chained murders] will be held on November 22. Their children will soon invite people to attend this ceremony in an official statement. This ceremony will be held on Sunday, November 22, 3-5 pm at their house No. 18, Moradzadeh St, Hedayat St, Tehran.

--Parleman News: Hossein Mar'ashi, spokeman for Executives of Construction Party in response to a question about the latest situation of this party, said: This party is in the process of reorganizing details of which will be explained later. Regarding the possibility of reformists taking part in the upcoming elections, he said: In case the current condition continues, my personal suggestion to Executives of Construction Party and the Reform Front is not to officially attend this election.

--Norooz: After the government's coup against the Culture Academy to seize it and remove Mir Hossein Mousavi as its chair, they are not trying to eliminate the Institute of Culture and Civilization Studies which runs under the supervision of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Ghorban Behzadian-nejad. It has been reported that the second biennial of "The Persian Gulf: Culture and Civilization" is being held on November 15-16 at Faculty of Literature and Human Science of University of Tehran, but the name of this Institute which had organized the first series of these biennials has been removed from the second series.

--BBC: On Sunday November 15 and on the occasion of International Student Day (November 17), Iranians in Washington, D.C., held a protesting assembly to express support and solidarity with protesters to results of Iran's presidential elections. "The Green Scroll" which displays the slogan "Ahmadinejad is not Iran's President" was brought to Washington, D.C., after being shown in Paris, Stockholm, and New York and was marched by Iranian in the city center in front of the Congress building.


NEWS OF THE ARRESTED, MISSING, AND DECEASED

--Norooz: Mostafa Shafiei, a medical student at Anzali University was arrested on November 3 while going to the campus and has been transferred to an unknown location. According to Human Rights Activists, Shafiei was active in Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign.


Analysis

--BBC: Ahmadinejad has recently called on responsible organs to conduct the resolution of Higher Council of Cultural Revolution in the field of human science. Formerly, Ali Khamenei had said teaching the humanities in Iran's universities is against the foundations of Quran and religion. Mehdi Khalaji, an Islamic researcher in Washington told BBC Persian that "This council does not aim to transform the field of the humanities, but rather make this scientific field Islamic." Mr Khalaji believes that the humanities are secular in nature but "From the beginning, the Islamic Republic has attempted to make this nature religious which means bringing it down to the level of theology. The ultimate goal of this council is to return to the medieval era before the humanities were formed." He added that "the ultimate goal and ideology of Iran's ruling system is to achieve power, and as the modern humanities cannot be used as a tool for this end, it is being condemned by them. That is why the nuclear technology is the main focus of power in Iran, because ideology has a thirst for weapons and thinks of science and philosophy as weapons as well. However, it is obvious that the humanities formed in the Europe and spread worldwide is not an effective weapon for the Islamic ideology."

Recommendations and Warnings:

--A new anti-filtering strategy: 1- Visit AOL.com, 2- register an account (sign up for a free email), 3- download free software (AOL 9.5), 4- sign into your account in AOL 9.5, 5- enjoy surfing high speed internet without filtering.

--Mohsen Sazegara mentioned the following points in his Sunday and Monday videos:

    -Referring to the joint session between Mr Mousavi and Mr Karroubi and their emphasis on not using violence during struggle, he mentioned the "non-violent struggle" but reminded that people should be aware of escape and defense techniques as well.

    -He said the coup agents will attempt to lead the struggle to use violence and have an excuse to start a serious repression.

    -IRGC's commander emphasizing that all their actions were undertaken as commanded by the Leader is somehow giving the infamy of all murders to the Leader.

    -Burying Dr Ramin Pourandarjani without conducting autopsy and released information about pressures on him increase the likelihood of his murder.

    -The rumour of universities being shut down during the week of Dec 7 is a mental war that should not cause any interferes in plans of the green movement.

    -He also talked about the 3,000 students of Najaf-Abad Azad University and said it shows the high potential of student movement.

    -He talked about strikes and protests of workers in a number of factories in Rasht, Sanandaj and Arak and said workers' movement is an important comrade of the Green Movement.

    -Finally, he said the official announcement of an increase in people's approach toward satellite channels shows illegitimacy of the ruling system, government and their various organs among the people.


Sunday, November 15, 2009

Newsletter for Saturday 14th November 2009

Student Information Center (SIC)

Newsletter Issue 129 - Saturday November 14th, 2009                                                                                                                                                              

Future Plans:
--Iranian-style protests, Thursday evening, go to parks and around in the city with family.
--Accompanying mothers of the green movement victims in Laleh Park – every Saturday afternoon.

--Spreading news about Dec 7th (Azar 16th) demonstrations on the anniversary of Student Day in private and public universities across the country; inviting people and students to attend these ceremonies in universities.


Summary of the News:

--Jaras: Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi in their third meeting expressed objection to the security line-up and oppressive, violent behavior of the ruling system against people present on Nov 4 demonstration as part of the Green Movement. In this meeting, Mousavi declared that "Green Movement condemns repression and will not involve in violence itself" and that "All people realize that our weapon is our peaceful and rational slogans." He also said "We demand full implementation of the constitution and release of political prisoners.  We call for ensuring healthy elections, and demand that freedom of the press, thoughts and beliefs be assured."

--Radio Zamaneh:Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi in their third meeting condemned violent attacks against women protesting to the election results. Taghir, the news portal of National Trust party, reports that in this meeting Mehdi Karroubi said attacks and behaviors which have taken place against people in the past five months had not occurred during "Pahlavi regime" with their opposition. Mr. Karroubi also expressed pity over violence against women and said he "cannot figure out" which source issues commands of such behaviors with people. The latest news of such violent crackdowns belongs to Nov 4 protests during which, a video widely published on the Internet shows a special guard police beats a young girl with baton on the head, causing her fall down.

--Norooz: Dr Ramin Pouandarjani who was spending his military service as a physician at Kahrizak detention, committed suicide following disclosure of incidents occurred in this detention center. According to Norooz' report, this doctor and outstanding student who had passed the universities entrance exam with a two-digit rank, has been questioned following the "closed" trial session related to those incidents, and has been the first victim of this case. While the main people involved in the brutal beatings of prisoners in this detention have not been questioned yet due to pressures on the MPs by Judge Mortazavi, this 26-year-old doctor was accused of negligence in testifying in events involved with martrdom of some prisoners and threatened that his medical license would be canceled and he would be sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.

--BBC: In an interview with Abbas Jaafari Dowlatabadi, IRNA reported that Mr. Shapour Kazemi's case, the brother of Mrs Zahra Rahnavard, has been forwarded to the Revolutionary Court, but did not present more information on the date of reviewing this case nor Mr Kazemi's charges.  Shapiur Kazemi, 62, is an expert in telecommunications in Iran and was arrested shortly after the presidential elections.

--BBC: On Thursday November 12, in a meeting with a number of faculty from Iran University of Science and Technology, Mohammad Khatami said: "I have repeatedly stated that at this time, no human being accepts any type of tyranny and dictatorship and rejects [it]; evidence to this statement is that nowadays even the dictators claim to be democratic rulers." He also criticized country's political atmosphere becoming "more limited" and said this issue will induce "irrecoverable" loss to the country. Mr Khatami also criticized violent crackdown of the government against the post-election protests.

--Radio Farda: News indicate that Ehsan Fatahian, the 27-eyar-old Kurdish youth previously sentenced to death on charges of fighting against God has been executed. One of his relatives in an interview with Radio Farda confirmed that he was executed at 6 am local time on Wednesday November 11 in Sanandaj Central prison.

--BBC: Shirin Ebadi called the execution of Mr Fatahin on Wednesday November 11 "hasty" and "unprecedented" expressed objection against his family not being allowed to visit him before his execution. Ms. Ebadi said: "Considering the inappropriate behavior unfortunately becoming common in Iran's prisons, especially with political prisoners, one can doubt about the cause of Mr Fatahian's death."

--Radio Zamaneh: Dozens of people in Sanandaj on Thursday protested to execution of Ehsan Fatahian, Iranian Kurdish political activist. Reports indicate that protesters started by leaving from Eqbal Sq. in Sanandaj and were scattered by police forces before reaching Namaki crossroad.

--BBC: The White House announced that US President Barack Obama once again extended the thirty-year sanctions against Iran on Thursday. These sanctions were first applied against Iran during November 1979 hostage crisis.

--BBC: America's Federal government prosecutors called for seizure of a skyscraper and four mosques in possession of Asa Company and Alavi Foundation in New York.

--Jaras: Families of political prisoners in their gathering in front of the Judiciary addressed the judicial system and demanded release of political prisoners and the Green Movement detainees, and enforcement of law and justice for all.

--Jaras: Following the failure to pay salaries of Abadan Oil Refinery workers, a number of these workers held a protesting assembly yesterday. The protesters whom were estimated to be over 300 have not received their salaries for the past 3 months. 

--Radio Zamaneh: In response to the arrest of a number of its members, Tahkim-e Vahdat Alumni Organization in a statement announced that it will "stand before despotism with all its power". This organization has condemned arrests of student activists and declared that along with leaders of the protesting movement of Iranian people, it "will strive to take back concepts such as republicism, Islamicism and justice which were confiscated by a number of power-greeds during the recent years.

--Radio Zamaneh: On Saurday evening, the Corps' commander while mentioning the recent change in the IRGC structures, said these changes arise from the will of the Leader and have been implemented to "protect the Islamic revolution and system better and more powerful". He said confronting with soft threats is one of the most important missions of the provincial corps.


Analysis

-- In an analysis entitled "transformation in the ranks of Ahmadinejad supporters 100 days after his inauguration", Ali Asghar Ramezanzadeh claims that in the very begining it seemed that the demostrations would die away as time passes and Mr. Ahmadinejad and his supporters would eventually dominate the situtation. However, as we pass the 100 days mark, he has yet failed to contain the crisis and quel the demonstrations. Also, in the process, he has created a rift among the ranks of his supporters and he has even lost a number of his moderate supporetrs. These moderates, who in the begining were trying to forge a deal to solve the crisis, are now marginalized and Mr. Ahmadinejad is not trying to appease them. In practice, his government has preferred to lean on its most zealous supporters. In his previous term, these forces, such as Basij and Revolutionary Guards, were independent of the executive system; however, in this term they have garnered direct power in the bureaucratic system. On the other hand, as the supreme leader clearly voices his support for this presidency, a part of the conservative fraction has reduced its criticism. Nevertheless, they fail to see a bright future for this cabinet.


Recommendations and Warnings:

-- A new anti-filtering strategy: 1- Visit AOL.com, 2- register an account (sign up for a free email), 3- download free software (AOL 9.5), 4- sign into your account in AOL 9.5, 5- enjoy surfing high speed internet without filtering.

-- Mohsen Sazegara in his Thursday update indicated:

-       Sepah has paid each of their agents 400 dollars. There were around 35000 agents, which would be 14 million dollars in total.  He added that the goal  of such activities is to invoke violence in people. Such violence would cause the ordinary people to detach themselves from the movement and, therefore, Sepah's image would be improved!

-       In order to paralyze Sepah, Sazegara mentioned, the pressure from people on Sepah agents to join the people should increase.  He added that the new efforts from Ahmadinejad's side to avoid the responsibility for the recent clamp-down of the protests and blaming the government's inefficiency is a sign of division in the government.


-       Sazegara said that the movement should organize ceremonies in all the country's universities on the student's day. The people and highschool students (after the schools close down) should be invited to these events.

In his Friday update, Sazegara indicated:

-       He alluded to the recent gathering of  the families of the political detainees in front of the judiciary department. He mentioned that these families have threatened that they will continue demonstration and then food strike, if their demands are not met.

-       He mentioned that the recent demonstrations in Sanandaj, protesting against the execution of Ehsan Fattahian ( a Kurdish Marxist activist), the demonstrations in Science and Technology university and Khajeh Nassir University, the strike of almost 300 laborers in Abadan refinery, the strike of 450 workers in Bandar-abbas refinery because of their overdue salaries, and, in addition, the renewal of the American sanctions are positive developments for the movement . He insisted that the Green and Worker's movement should become more and more connected.

On Saturday Sazegara mentioned the following:

-       The beggar-like words of the head of Iran's Armed Forces towards Russia in the quest for the S-300 missile are embarrassing and humiliating for any Iranian.

-       Sazegara noted that the strike of workers in Khorramshahr municipality, the harsh conditions in the city  and the protests of workers in Kanaf Kar in Rasht are aimed towards solving the problems of the workers and this is in harmony with majority's will and also the dismissal of the coup leaders.

-       With regards to the Students' day, he asked the heads of reformists (Khatami, Mousavi and Karroubi) to give speeches in different universities.

The audio file of Sazegara's complete addresses for Thursday, Friday and Saturday  is attached to this newsletter.


Thursday, November 12, 2009

Newsletter for Wednesday 11th of November 2009

Student Information Center (SIC)

Newsletter Issue 128 - Wednesday November 11th, 2009                                                                                                                                                              


Note: Hamid Dabashi, Iranian professor of Columbia University at New York has started a series of videos titled "WeekInGreen" which discusses Iran's democratic movement. Student Information Center recommends all readers to watch and share them. If interested visit the "WeekInGreen" youtube channel and Facebook group:


http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWeekInGreen

http://www.facebook.com/pages/WeekInGreen/168006002362?ref=search&sid=693095675.709705614..1


Future Plans:

--Iranian-style protests, Thursday evening, go to parks and around in the city with family.

-- Accompanying the mothers of the green movement victims in Laleh Park – every Saturday afternoon.


Summary of the News:

--Radio Zamaneh, Radio Farda, the wave of freedom, BBC News: Unfortunately, despite all the efforts of human rights organizations, Ehsan Ftahyan, 28-year-old political activist was executed today. He was initially sentenced to   10 years imprisonment at a lower court. But the opposition appealed and he was sentenced to death. Various efforts of his family and "human rights watch" and "amnesty international" organizations were not successful in even delaying his execution and he was executed this morning.

--Radio Zamaneh: Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate met with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon about the human rights situation in Iran. In this meeting, Ms. Ebadi discussed the "illegal" behavior of the authorities of the Islamic Republic towards human rights groups. She also wrote a letter to the head of human rights organization asking for them to put pressure on the Iranian gouverment regarding their ban on human rights activists to leave Iran. In this letter, she wrote that members of human rights groups are "constantly threatened, imprisoned, and deported. Essentially, she added that these individuals were being held hostage in Iran. 


--Rooz Online: A day after the new media and press deputy was introduced at the Ministry of Culture, Tehran's prosecutor delivered harsh remarks to the media stating that reports that can "disturb public opinion" will be confronted legally. At another ceremony, he warned: "I emphasize that online news sources should also mind their content otherwise they will also be taken care of". 


--Mowj-e-Azadi: Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, has written a confidential message to Ezzatollah Zarghami (head of media) and has asked that two important conditions be met for the next five years. First he has asked for a reduction in the number of television hosts e
specially the elimination of i
mages of women in media productions. Next, he has asked for the reduction of use of music during television programming. Based on this report, it is apparent that the new government plans on restricting television content in the future.


--Rooz Online: In a response to journalists regarding the execution of some protesters and those under the age of 18, Ayatollah Montazeri answered that these shame trials have no religious or legal legitimacy and therefor any prison or execution order has no merit.

--Mowj-e-Azadi: the National and Religious Coalition has released a statement condemning the oppression of the green movement. They have state
d that the Iranian goverment should recognize the green movement as a legitimate cause for some of the Iranian people and instead of oppressing them, they should start a dialogue. This would be in the long term intrest of the Iranian nation.


--BBC News: The Human Rights Watch Organization has awarded 4 Iranian activists with the Hellman Hammett award for their courage and resilience despite the Iranian government's oppression and threats. These activists are Asiya Amini, Yusef Azizi Banitaraf, Mohamad Sadigh Kaboodvand and Arash Sigarchi. This award was given to  human rights activists from 18 countries. 

--AFP: After sprotets from the Iranian Embassy in London due to the establishment of a special scholarship from Oxford University, today one of the officials of the university defended the move. Oxford representatives stated that this new scholarship for a degree in p

hilosophy has been established to provide financial help to an Iranian student and that the source of this scholarship is well-known to the College.   

--Deutsche Welle: on Tuesday (10 November, 19 Nov.), a public meeting on the sidelines of parliament, revealed that the Supreme National Security Council has divided the executive responsibilities of national security between police and security institutions. POlice security forces are now responsible for monitoring information propagated on the internet and the revolutionary guard are now responsible for satellite signal-jamming towers. The latter has raised criticism in the parliament from the minister of health since these high-energy signals are shown to be bad for public health.
 


University News:

 --Mowj-e-Azadi: Morteza Asadi, a former member of the Islamic Association of Allameh Tabatabai University (student activist) was arrested by security forces outside of this home on Saturday. He had already received a 2 year ban on attending the University.  


News of Arrested, and Deceased: 

BBC News: A Danish journalist who was reporting on Iranian student protests of last week was arrested in Iran yesterday. He had travelled to Iran to investigate the current situation. 


Analysis

Siraj al-Din Mirdamadi, journalist and political analyst in living Paris, interviewed with adio Farda regarding the current issues in Iran  Mir Hossein Mousavi. He said:

- After the recent events and the way in which the regime confronted the opposition, it appears that since then the opposition leaders' language and rhetoric has changed dramatically. It appears that they are more established now, but not necessarily radicalized.-He added that he thinks the rhetoric of Mr. Mousavi and Mr. Karroubi might still change under the pressures of the regime. After the pressures of the government as well as pressures from state-backed media for their arrest, it is possible that in the future they might have to back away from some of their earlier ideological statements. For example, some of their statements regarding defending the Imam's (Khomeini's) values. He added that further harsher reactions are also expected from the government. Already, the police confrontation with protesters last week was more violent than the previous demonstrations. But at the same time, the slogans shouted by protesters were also more volatile and direct. It is hard to tell whether less people came out to protest last week as compared to the Qods day protests, or whether they were just more wide-spread (and thus diluted). Either way, the slogans and songs were definitely stronger. It seems that both sides are gaining fervor in their cause and are further challenging the other sides' theoretical and intellectual stands. 


Recommendations and Warnings:

Mohsen Sazegara mentioned various points about the revolutionary guards in his Tuesday and Wednesday videos. He pointed that MirHossein Moosavi currectly mentioned in his earlier interview that the revolutionary guards are deeply involved in fraud and also that their legitimacy should be taken by publicizing notions about their moral, religious, political and financial illegitimacy due their acts in torture and rape of prisoners, bringing in arms in politics and corrupting the economical system.

Sazegara also pointed that the green slowgans were heard this Nov. 4th in schools so this counts as the birth of Iran's high school students movement.


 


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