Monday, January 11, 2010

Monday January 11th 2010 Newsletter

Student Information Center (SIC)

Newsletter Issue 155 - Monday January 11th, 2010                                                                                                                                                              

FUTURE PLANS
--Efforts focused at increasing non-violent civil disobedience in the society
--Writing slogans on the walls and bills

NEWS
--Norouz: Mehdi Karoubi, the chair of the National Trust Party, in an open letter criticized the role of military forces and plain clothes militias in the aftermath of the disputed election, especially the events of Ashoura in Tehran. He outlined his quintet solutions for dealing with the current situation. The text of this statement is attached.

--VOA Persian: In a report released by Iranian Parliament on Sunday, Saeed Mortazavi- the former Prosecutor General of Tehran- is criticized for the transfer of demonstrators arrested in post-election protests to the notorious Kahrizak prison [which was shut down after allegations of harsh treatment and rape were raised.] In their report on post-election events which was released on Sunday, the Special Committee of Majlis emphasizes that the arrestees were transfered to Kahrizak prison 'by orders and insistence' of the Prosecutor General of Tehran at the time and the judiciary should be accountable for his actions.

--Radiofarda: The Prosecutor General of Tehran told Fars News Agency that Charge d'affaires of Sweden in Tehran who had been arrested in the protests of Ashura [December 27], was released after his identity was established. The news of his arrest was first revealed by the conservative member of the parliament Zohreh Elahian.

--JARAS: A group of offsprings of the Tir, 7th martyrs in an statement condemned the continued detention of Alireza Beheshti. The complete text of this statement is attached.
--BBC: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Joe Liebermann (I-CT) stated that recent protests in Iran mark the beginning of the end of the Islamic Regime and asked Obama Administration to support the protestors in Iran.

--JARAS: Spokesman for the International Human Rights Campaign in Iran told that around thirty three individuals who had been arrested during the most recent weekly gathering of 'mourning mothers' on Saturday evening were transferred to jail.

--Deutsche wellet: The Minority [Reformist] Caucus in the Iranian Parliament describes Majlis' recent report on post-election events as 'a positive but insufficient step'. The minority spokesman is critical of the fact that certain instances such as raids of security forces on University of Tehran dormitory complex and Sobhan Complex as well as the suspicious death of [Ramin Pourandarjani] the Kahrizak medical doctor have been totally neglected in this report.

--VOA Persian: Criticizing government's treatment of protestors in recent days- especially during and after Ashura- has even spread to the Principlist [Conservative] camp. Although some hardliners still insist on exerting more violence [in order to crack down the protests], the recent interview of Ali Motahhari on IRIB [the son of the later Morteza Motahhari and the conservative member of the parliament] has become controversial as he explicitly expressed his discontent with the continuation of the current course of action, which he calls mere stubbornness by Ahmadinejad, the widespread arrest of dissidents and not issuing permits for demonstrations by protestors. Some analysts interpret these bold statements as signs of widening crisis within the Conservative pro-Ahmadinejad camp.

--BBC Persian: The Ministry of Culture has issued warnings to the following newspapers: Jomhuri-Eslami [Islamic Republic], E'temaad, Bahar, Farhang-e-Ashti and Donya-ye-Eqtesaad.

--Norouz: Mohammad Khatami, the reformist ex-president, emphasized that "extremism would not solve the social problems" and warned against the threats of denying the crisis altogether.

NEWS FROM UNIVERSITIES
--Radio Farda: While dozens of students are detained in Tehran, Shiraz, Mashhad and other cities, the trials behind closed doors with heavy sentences have increased significantly. In the past few days, only 5 student activists were dealt a sum of 21 years in prison. "Mass arrests", "expulsion by the disciplinary committees" and "suspension of the student groups" are also leveraged by the government to as means of crackdown against the student movement.

--Radio Zamaneh: 56 faculty members of Science and Industry University condemned the heavy sentences dealt to the students. They also criticized widespread summons by the disciplinary committee and the violent beating of the students by security forces "from outside of the University".

NEWS OF THE ARRESTED, MISSING, AND DECEASED
--JARAS: Yashar Qajar- the former Secretary of the Islamic Assembly of Amir Kabir University [one of the leading reformist student organizations in Iran]- who had been arrested on May 28, 2006 and had been released after 44 days of interrogation by IRGC's Intelligence Agency, was notified of the final ruling in his case on Wednesday January 6, 2009.

--Advar news: "My sister has had no contact with us except for a phone call she made one day after her arrest" said the brother of Forough Mirzaei- the attorney who was arrested alongside her husband on January 1 "we are deeply concerned about her well being and it is our right to meet and contact her."

RECOMMENDATIONS AND WARNINGS
In his Sunday video, Mohsen Sazegara mentioned the following points:
1. Security forces have attacked the gathering of mourning mothers and have arrested them.
2. Protesting the widespread arrests of their fellow classmates, students of Sharif University formed a gathering today. Meanwhile, Qazvin University has expelled or suspended many students in the recent days.
3. Human rights activists have challenged the "death sentence" for five detainees of Ashoura.
4. A group of lawyers have also voiced their concern by providing the legal definition of "Mohareb" and challenging the decision of the judiciary system.
5. Rifts within the revolutionary guards is getting deeper. There has been talk of about 3,000 discontent entities within the guards.
6. The speech delivered by the supreme leader can be considered as a retreat. He didn't raise any new points and solely pointed out the large number of people showing up for the pro-government rally. Another mass rally by the green movement on 22nd of Bahman can easily void these voices.

On Monday, Mohsen Sazegara talked about these points:
1. In the report published by the parliament, Saeed Mortazavi was characterized as the sole officer behind all the problems in Kahrizak. This report falls terribly short and does not mention many other aspects.
2. Until now, 5 Iranian diplomats have sought asylum from their host countries. This further highlights the rifts within the government.
3. Reportedly, in the gathering of "mourning mothers", 33 were arrested and 10 were transferred to a hospital. Apparently, these mothers are imprisoned.
4. Faculties of Science and Industry University have voiced their concern about the crackdown against the students. The students of faculty of engineering in University of Tehran are on strike demanding the resignation of Farhad Rahbar for opening the door to the militia forces.
5. There are many ideas pouring in for 22nd of Bahman. This day should mark a popular "Yes or No" referendum against the regime and showing up in masses is critical.



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