Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Wednesday March 3rd, 2010 Newsletter

Student Information Center (SIC)

Newsletter Issue 179 - Wednesday March 3rd, 2010

FUTURE PLANS
-- Efforts focused at increasing non-violent civil disobedience in the society.
-- Allah o Akbar during the nights
-- Writing slogans on the walls and bills
-- Visiting resting place of the green movement martyrs in Beheshte Zahra (the cemetery) on the last Thursday of the year
-- Being out in the streets on Thursdays

NEWS
 
--Maad: During the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Iranians resident of Canada hold a gathering and signed a petition to show their renewed support for the green movement. A short music video related to the event will be attached.

--Maad: The gathering of families of political prisoners in Evin prison continued on night of Monday, 1st of March. 
  
--BBC News: The Iranian authorities disallowed the 43rd anniversary of Mohammad Mossadegh, due to the "possibility of conflict". This news was announced by Hossein Shah-Hosseini, national activists.

--BBC News: Ramin Jahanbegloo, Iranian scholar and philosopher, received the peace award of year 2009, on Tuesday evening, 2nd of March, in Barcelona, Spain. In the award document comes: " Ramin Jahanbegloo is a nonviolence philosopher, whose  effords have expanded peace and in the realm of ideas and comments and also political action." He said: "I'm here to be the voice of people who mutely protest in Iran." Mr. Jhanbgv called his award "belonging to the people of Iran who shape their peaceful protest in the form of civil movement", when he was receiving the United Nation's peace prize. 
9. 
--Radio Farda: Office of the Berlin International Film Festival and Europe People's Party, the largest party in the EU parliament, on Wednesday in two separate statements, protested against arrest of Jafar Panahi the Iranian film maker, and demanded his immediate release. 

--Radio Farda: Following tensions between Iran and Norway over the granting of asylum to former Iranian consoler in Oslo, and expelling of a Norwegian diplomat in Tehran, Foreign Ministry of Norway on Wednesday said that an Iranian diplomat was asked to leave Norway.

--JRS: Art students protested against the arrest of one of their classmates, on Tuseday 2nd of March.

--BBC News: Fatemeh Karroubi, wife of Mehdi Karroubi, while expressing regret about Iranian government's relationship with the public press, called the cancellation of magazine "Iran Daughter" illegal. She said in a statement on 2nd of March that this magazine, during the nine years of publication, has only received two warning notices. Ms. Karroubi also mentioned a gathering in front of their house and harassment of her and Mr. Karrubi. 
  
--BBC News: American Foreign Ministry spokesman on Tuesday said in his daily briefing, that the press censourship in Iran bans the people of Iran from their right to access information. Etemad newspaper and Iran Daughter(Irandokht) are the last few newspapers which have been recently banned. 

--BBC News: Alireza Avaee, head of Tehran Justice said: Death sentences is not required in moharebeh (war charge). He said the sentence might be downgraded to deportation, or in case of repentance, another path might be chosen. 

--Radio Farda: within hours of arrest of Jafar Panahi, Tehran's prosecutor said that his detention "is not because he is an artist and it is not political." Reports from Tehran indicate that security forces have arrested Mr. Panahi and all his family members and about 12 guests who have been in their house, at Monday 1st of March. Their current location is not known.

-- JRS: Ali Mazruee's speech at Tehran University was canceled. Only minutes before the speech the power was turned off, and after the cancellation of the speech the power went back up. Security forces were said to be around in the area.

--Radio Zamaneh: The Wall Street Journal gave news that the U.S. company Caterpillar has joined the boycotters of Iranian government. Caterpillar Company is one of the largest manufacturer of heavy industrial machinery and construction.

NEWS OF THE ARRESTED
--JRS: Death penalty for a student of Damghan university, who was a member of Islamic Association of the university was confirmed. According to the Nedaye Sabz news agency, this 20 year old student was sentenced wth reference to Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi's statement that said enemies of God should be executed. This statement was regarded as religious fatwa (rule), and the sentence has been issued based on this and the execution can take place any moment now.

--Parlemannews: Morteza Kazemian, a journalist and national-religious activist was released after 9 weeks, with bail.

--JRS: On 11th Esfand security agents searched Mahboobeh Karami's house and arrested her.

--JRS: Hesam Firouzi, human rights activists, and the doctor of some of the political prisoners, was arrested on 11st of Esfand month and transferred to unknown place.
  
--JRS: Navid Khanjani, civil student activist was arrested on 11st of Esfand.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND WARNINGS
--SabzProxy is designed to help Iranians navigate the Internet through a proxy. If you are willing to help people of Iran, if you want to install this proxy on your server please send an empty email to sabzproxy@sabznameh.com

--Mohsen Sazgara mentioned the following in his videos: 
-Government's recent action (censorship and arrests) are similar to Soviet Union, and other dictatorships. 
-Khamenei's authority is questioned by wife of Mr. Hemmat, one of the important martyrs of the revolution. 

























Monday, March 1, 2010

Monday March 1st, 2010 Newsletter

Student Information Center (SIC)

Newsletter Issue 178 - Monday March 1st, 2010

FUTURE PLANS
--Efforts focused at increasing non-violent civil disobedience in the society.
--Allah o Akbar during the nights
--Writing slogans on the walls and bills
-- Visiting resting place of the green movement martyrs in Beheshte Zahra (the cemetery) on the last Thursday of the year-- Being out in the streets on Thursdays

NEWS
--Radio Zamaneh: Mr. Khatami met with a group of youth and student members of the assembly and made the following statements. He said that the current regime is deviating away from the principles of the Islamic republic. and that if the people begin to feel that their vote is value-less, then it is the reformists duty to re-establish the right path since both Islam and the Republic are in danger.

--Path of Green Movement (Jrs): The president of the Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy has released a statement regarding the video released which depicts the plain-clothes and security forces attacking the university dorms in Tehran. While emphasizing that the video was released from BBC, he recommended that the post-election investigation committee should look more closely into the matter of the video. 
--Path of Green Movement (Jrs): Association of Iranian student unions released a statement condemning continued detention of many students in Tehran's prisons. They demanded the immediate release of students and teachers who are under arrest. They also condemned the attack on university dorms as depicted in the leaked video as "a military invasion where the attackers seem joyful as if they have conquered an enemy castle!".

--Path of Green Movement (Jrs): According to information received, individuals who have been released from prison since the elections are under pressure to comply and give pro- government interviews. They are said to be told that if they don't follow instructions, they will be back in prison by Norooz (Iranian new years coming up in March). 

--Path of Green Movement (Jrs): According to Iranian official law enforcement, the police force detained twenty thousand protesters on the day of the anniversary of the revolution (feb 11th). This number included individuals arrested anywhere between a few hours to a few days or ongoing. Based on this report, the number of Green protesters on the streets on that day can be estimated to have been very high. 

--Path of Green Movement (Jrs): The Director General of Tehran's "Protective" committee (generally in charge of maintaining the "values" of the Islamic Revolution) revealed in a private meeting that they had imported many people from surrounding cities on February 11th. He is quoted as saying :" since we knew that we had to outnumber the greens so as to discourage then on February 11th, we cancelled the rallies traditionally held in neighboring cities and brought everyone to Tehran instead. In this way, we gathered around 500 thousand pro-government supporters in Tehran. And with the discipline and organization of those in charge, we managed to disperse and discourage the "rioters"". 

--In response to criticism of the political executions, Sadeq Larijani has said that he is doing everything in his power to stop these executions. He has had a private meeting with Khamanei where the supreme leader told him that "he expected more". 

--BBC News: Mohammad Khatami has published a criticism of the regime on the website "Baran". He said that the government should act with intelligence regarding foreign policy and not be too adventurous in the face of the enemies. 

--Radio Farda: Mehdi Kalhor, media adviser to the Iranian President called the elections celebrations a mistake. He said that the Greens are experts and scholars of our society and they cannot be put aside. He also accused the conservatives of seeking "vengeance" from reformists.

--BBC: Abbas Jaafari Dowlatabadi (Tehran prosecutor) released warning statements for the upcoming new years celebrations. He said that there will be no more protests without permission and those who do will be dealt with. He also accused the reformist leaders of inciting unrest but said that their efforts are futile.

--Radio Zamaneh: Press Supervisory Board banned the daily Etemad and Iran Coverage Rate Weekly magazine is canceled. The two journal publications were some of a few remaining reformists publications. 
--BBC News: Shadi Sadr, activist and women's rights lawyer, won a special award given by the American government for outstanding human rights activities. She is amongst 10 women who received the 2010 "courageous women" award. She had won a similar award from Netherlands in 2009. 

NEWS OF THE ARRESTED
--Path of Green Movement (Jrs): security agents raided the home of Jafar Panahi, a famous Iranian director. They arrested him, his wife and daughter, as well as 15 guests who were present at the time of the raid. 
--Path of Green Movement (Jrs): Behnam Ali-Zadeh, a member of the Islamic Association of Art University, was arrested Saturday night from University dormitories. This arrest was done by the request of University authorities. 

--Kalameh: doctor Mohammad Maleki, the oldest political prisoner after the coup election events was finally released after 191 days in detention. He is said to be in a non-favorable physical state. Several others including Mohamad reza Mogheisseh, Favad Sadeghi, Mahsa Jazini, Mehdi Motamedimehr and Morteza Kazemian were also released.

--BBC: A number of the arrested were released yesterday. These included politicians, journalists as well as Baha'i citizens. 

--Radio Farda: Omid Montazeri who was arrested after the events of the day of Ashura, is sentenced to 6 years in prison. Mehdi Clary from Sharif University who was arrested on November 16th was sentenced to 2 and half years in prison. , which held from 16 November to take over two and a half years of imprisonment story. 
Radio Farda: Mustafa Mir Ahmadizadeh, students of Ayatollah Montazeri and professor of public law with useful Qom Special Clerical Court was arrested in his house. On the other hand Ali Hekmat, member central council of defending the freedom of the press and banned the editor Following the occurrence of the Persian month Khordad day of Ashura was arrested after about two months, was released Saturday evening.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND WARNINGS
Sazegara's Sunday and Monday video summary: He showed his support for Mousavi's recent statements. He stated that it is important to maintain the streets pressure even if it is not as united. It is important to keep the streets noisy. 
Studies from several american universities have concluded that Iran and China are most active against the internet in terms of filtering and arresting bloggers. 
21 Arab countries have released a statement demanding that the iranian government cease the oppression of its people.
While it was initially said that 100-150 members of the parliament had complained against Mousavi, the government has now admitted that that number was a lie and in actual fact only 4 parliament members had complaints against him.Finally, March 8th is Women's day and it is important that we show our support for the women's movement and the female activists who are currently under arrest.























Saturday, February 27, 2010

Saturday February 27th, 2010 Newsletter

Student Information Center (SIC)

Newsletter Issue 177 - Saturday February 27th, 2010

FUTURE PLANS
--Efforts focused at increasing non-violent civil disobedience in the society.
--Allah o Akbar during the nights
--Writing slogans on the walls and bills
-- Visiting resting place of the green movement martyrs in Beheshte Zahra (the cemetery) on the last Thursday of the year-- Being out in the streets on Thursdays

NEWS
--Advarnews: In an interview with Kalameh news agency, Mir Hossein Moussavi has commented on his take of the events on Bahman 22nd. The full interview is attached to the newsletter.

--Kalameh: An annual memorial service for the martyrs of the Bakeri family was held on Thursday. Mit Hossein Moussavi and Zahra Rahnavard were invited to this event and they appeared amidst much interest from people an activist politicians.

--Radio Farda: The 4th International Congress Against Capital Punishment was held in Switzerland. Iran, after China, has the highest number of capital punishments in the world.

--Deutsche Welle: In interview with corriere della sera, Mehdi Karoubi commented on the green movement in Iran. He restated his belief that the June election was rigged and challenged the legitimacy of the government. He also stated that his goal is not to debunk the regime, rather he prefers widespread reforms. He said that he still believes in the ideal of islamis repblic, but not the kind we see in Iran. He wants a republic that elective not engineered and is based on true islam not superstition.

--Kalameh: The parliamentary head of Iran, is a letter to the executive branch, enumerated all the actions taken by the government which ever deemed against the law. The legislative branch asked for explanations and adequate changes.

--VoA: Supreme leader's representative in the revolutionary guards claimed that these forces are not part of an army and they have the right and power to take political actions if deemed necessary.

--JARAS: A number of human rights activists in the Arab countries have published a letter denouncing the crackdown against the people and asked the government to put an end to this behavior.

--JARAS: The Friday surmons across the country were focused on the apprehension of Rigi and the gathering of the "council of the experts".

NEWS OF THE ARRESTED
--Kalameh: The judge in charge of Abdollah Momeni's case who has requested an 800 million toman bail for his release, denied the 400 million toman bail prepared by his wife on the grounds that this amount was not enough.

--Kalameh: Mohsen Mirdamadi's defense Lawyer informed of his second trial in the "revolution courthous" no. 15. Mr. Mirdamadi is accused of attempts at debunking and publicizing against the regime.

--Parliment news: The spouse of Mostafa Tajzadeh has announced that upon Mr. Tajzadeh's arrest (close to 9 months ago), his monthly salary has been cut.

--Rahana: Pakhshan Azizi is on hunger strike in prison and his condition is described as critical.

--Rahana: Student activists in Azad University in Najafabad, one of the biggest Azad U branches nationwide, have been hit the hardest both in terms of the number of individuals affected and the harshness of the sentences issued.

--Kaleme: A $100,000 deposit has been requested for conditional release of the arrested journalist Keyvan Mehregan. Since his family is unable to pay this deposit, his attorney, Saleh Nikbakht, is trying to convert this ruling to a conditional release on bail.

--Adwarnews: Somayyeh Rashidi, a One-million signature Campaign activist [who fights for equal rights for women] was released from Evin prison on Thursday.
Radiofarda: According to the International Human Rights Campaign, the imprisonment sentences of eight student activists of Nushirvani University of Technology, Babol, has been finalized.

--Norooz: Despite the joint requests of more than 3000 students of Ferdowsi University in Mashhad, the expulsion of three student activists was finalized.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND WARNINGS
On his video broadcast on Thursday, Mohsen Sazegara mentioned the following points:
1- The Regime has launched a huge propaganda campaign after the arrest of the notorious terrorist Abdulmalek Rigi; however we should keep in mind that widespread poverty in Balouchestan as well as Regime's oppressive approach towards its people makes that area a fertile ground for emergence of terrorists like Rigi. Furthermore, the arrest of Rigi is a testament to the fact that armed and violent struggles against police states such as Iran will reach to nowhere; however nonviolent struggles will put the intelligence efforts of such police states in vain.
2- In Ahmadinejad's latest trip to Birjand [which is the capital and the largest city of South Khorasan Province in Southestern Iran], only 300-700 people attended his speech in the city's stadium.
3- After days of protest, the employees of long-distance telecommunication industry are still continuing their protests in pursuit of getting their unpaid wages.
4- Like previous nights, the gatherings of the arrested families in front of the Evin Prison continued last night.Continued discussion on Upcoming Actions: The main objectives of our actions are to :(1) illegitimize the Regime, (2) strengthen the unity and cohesiveness of the Green Movement, (3) exhausting the Regime and creating and widening the existing gaps amongst its ranks. Street protests are unarguably the most effective in exhausting the Regime; however it is not the only means for reaching that objective. Furthermore, we should work to decrease the costs of coming to streets for protest. Revealing the identities and actions of revolutionary guards and Basijis is extremely effective in exhausting the coup government. Therefore we should exert pressure on revolutionary guards and basijisl. The fourth main objective of our political actions should be to paralyze the government, this issue will be discussed tomorrow.

On his video broadcast on Friday, Mohsen Sazegara mentioned the following points:
1- There are various actions which could paralyze the coup government, including boycotting certain goods, refusing to cooperate with the government agencies and going on strikes (For instance coordinated ten-minute strikes in 1980's Poland could be a good role-model.)
2- Ayatollah Khamenei's speech in front of the members of the Assembly of Experts [which is supposed to oversight the performance of the Supreme Leader] clearly showed that he still refuses to accept the reality. He does not want to come to terms with the fact that the Green Movement is deeply rooted in the 31 years of the incompetence of the status quo, deep changes within the Iranian society, existing gender, generational, ethnic and class gaps and most importantly the dominance of democratic paradigm amongst people.
3- There are talks of imminent changes [in how the International community treats the Iranian Regime] in near future. The first change will be to put sanctions on IRGC since its role in cracking down Feb. 11 protests have become apparent. The second change will be to challenge the Iranian Regime's censorship of satellite news channels, internet and other means of communication.
4- Russian Foreign Minster declared that the S300 anti-missile defense system will not be give to Iran.

On his video broadcast on Saturday, Mohsen Sazegara mentioned the following points:
1- The gathering of the families of the arrested in front of the Evin prison continued last night and some more prisoners were released; however new imprisonment sentences are still being issued.
2- Mr Karroubi had a very good interview in which he called the Regime-sponsored rallies of Feb. 11 as 'show rallies'. (The General Manager of the Governorship of Tehran Province has previously admitted gathering supporters from all over the country.)
3- Dismissal of the candidates of the Assembly of Attorneys challenges the political freedom and civil organizations are under the boots of the military dictatorship.
4- A conference, co-sponsored by the Iranian Embassy in UK, was scheduled to take place in Cambridge about Iran; however it was cancelled due to cold reaction of the researchers. Refusing to cooperate with the government in all levels is one of the best ways of civil disobedience.
5- Two scheduled speeches of Larijani in Japan were cancelled; it seems that the objections of Iranians in Japan has been the main reason for these cancellations.
6- There has been a recent surge in writing graffiti inside the countries (which has reached small towns such as Gonbad Kavous in northeast Iran); writing slogans on paper money and writing graffitis in small towns is extremely effective since it is extremely difficult to identify those who do this.
7- There are several important points about Chaharshanbeh souri [March 16]: First of all, we should all remember the principles of non-violent struggle. Second of all, the fact that Chaharshanbeh souri is a traditional festivity scattered everywhere makes it very difficult for the government to react. (Therefore we should not specify a specific gathering place.) Overall, this is a day when we can all be extremely active with minimal risk.



















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