Weekly Digest Monday 19th April 2010
 | Weekly Digest Monday 19 April 2010 |
Message from student.information.center@gmail.com:
-- Efforts focused at increasing non-violent civil disobedience in the society.
-- Allah o Akbar during the nights
-- Writing slogans on the walls and bills
-- Being out in the streets on Thursdays
NEWS
--Kalameh: Mir Hossein Mousavi addressed a group of students yesterday. He explained that under the current situation and ban on freedom of press, followers of the Green movement have to take other measures to communicate with each other. He added that he was astounded by the high unemployment rate and the severe dependence of teh ocuntry on oil money. He finished by saying that Iran is a culturally diverse country where 70 million cultured Iranians could live together despite different ideologies.
--JRS: It is reported that Khamenei has suggested that many religious figures in Qom meet with Ahmadinejrad in a move to validate his presidency in the eyes of the people. While some senior clerics complied, many refused these guidelines directly issued by the supreme leader and went as far as saying that meeting with Ahmadinejad would be ungodly.
--BBC: Mohamad Khatemi, former Iranian president and an avid supporter of the green movement was prevented from leaving the country. He was on his way to a anti-nuclear weapons meeting in Japan when he was barred from traveling outside the country. Following this event prime ministers of Canada and Sweden wrote letters to Ahmadinejad expressing their dissatisfaction with the situation. Hamid Rasai, a parliamentary representative who is a supporter of Ahmadinejrad has reported that 150 members of the parliament, including himslef had asked Ahmadinejad to issue a travel ban for Mr. Mousavi, Mr. Khatami and Mr. Karroubi, or as he called them, the "leaders of crisis".
--BBC: The Malaysian oil company Petronas, has declared that it stopped selling gas to Iran as of March 2010. While they did not give any specific reasons, it is speculated that this was in order to not perturb relations with the USA.
--JRS: It is reported that the Revolutionary Guard has taken control of the Jahad building on the main street near one of Tehran's main universities. This building typically belongs to the ministry of agriculture. But it is hypothesized that the Guard was interested in this building because of its location near the University for surveillance. The height of the building also allows for crown control and monitoring.
--JRS: The head of Cannes Film Festival has declared Jafar Panahi to be their special guest at the festival. Mr. Panahi, a renowned Iranian director is still in prison in Iran.
--BBC: Tehran governor had previously said in a interview that the major protests seen immediately after the elections had a permit from the government. In a new interview last week, he denied the that this permit was issued.
--Radio Farda: The office of Ahmadinejad has declared that he wrote another letter to Mr. Obama last week where he has told him that the US should learn how to fight terrorism from Iran. This is the second letter sent by Ahmadinejad that has received no response.
--BBC: Karim Mohammad Beigi, Mustafa's father, the 27 years old man who died during the Ashura protests, has said that his son died in injustice and that he has not yet recieved any explanations for his death. He asked human rights watch groups to carry on his message and let the world know of these injustices so that his son's death was not in vain.
--Radio Farda: On Wednesday,International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran called for an immediate stop to of the "special court" that has been assembled in Evin Prison. This court works outside the juridicial system where many of the accused do not have access to a defense. This court shows the extent of the Revolutionary Guards reach wthin the judiciary system.
--BBC: American Institute of Research about censorship (CRC) announced the distribution of a special Internet Proxy Iran called "Haystack" which allows users in Iran to bypass government filters and have full access to the internet (http://www.haystacknetwork.com).
UNIVERSITY NEWS
--JRS: Seyed Ali Asghar Beheshti Shirazi (cousin Ali Beheshti, consultant to Mir Hossein Mousavi) who was a University professor, has officially been banned from the Science and Technology University.
--JRS: a group of Allameh Tabatabai University students staged a protest when one senior adviser to Ahmadinejad visited their campus. They protested his presence by singing songs and shouting slogans.
NEWS OF THE ARRESTED
--BBC: Mohamad Nourizad, journalist and Iranian filmmaker, was sentenced to 3 and half years in prison and 50 lashes. He was accused of speaking against the state and insulting government officials. HE was arrested after posting a critique of the supreme leader on his personal blog. He subsequently spent 4 months in jail, where 70 days were in solitary confinement.
--Kalameh: A group of political prisoners in Evin sent a letter to UN Secretary-General. They asked him to visit them in Evin prison during his trip to Iran. In order to truly appreciate their dire condition, they asked him to visit them and interview them in private.
--Saham News: Mehdi Karroubi visited the family of Ahmad Zaydabadi today who was arrested during the unrest. During this meeting the family described Zaydabadi's condition as very bad where is is in a prison cell with convicted murderers and drug traffickers. After spending 35 days in solitary confinement (with 17 of those days being a hunger strike), He was sentenced to six years in prison, 5 years exile in Gonabad, and a lifelong ban on any political activity, written or oral. Mr. Mousavi and his wife also visited the family of Mr. Zaydabadi to show their support.
--JRS: One JRS reporter who was recently released from prison reports on a large number of detainees in Evin who are in prison while awaiting trial or unclear as to what will happen to them. The list of these names was made available through SIC last week.
--Rahana: Two members of the human rights committee were summoned to Evin prison for security investigation last week. This is while the detention of two other activists were confirmed last week after a month of questioning by their families.
--Rahana: Issa Saharkhiz was acquitted of charges of publishing lies and propaganda against the government.
--Green Voice: Majid Tavakoli, student activist was sentenced in a lower court where he was not allowed to have a lawyer. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison, followed by a 5 year ban on political activity as well as a five year travel bad. His lawyer is still trying to arrange a situation where his sentence would be reconsidered and he could defend Mr. Tavakoli.
--Green Voice: Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, political activist and magazine director was arrested in late December. According to his lawyer, his situation is deplorable and after 4 months of his detention, he is still in solitary confinement.
--Reporters of the Committee for Human Rights: Mohammad Ghaznavian, women's and children's rights activist who was released on a heavy bail, was returned to prison only 9 days after paying his bail.
--Rahana: Yaser Yousefzadeh, chief of Mousavi's campaign in the city of Babolsar has been arrested for over a month. It is reported that his physical and mental condition is very bad at this point in time.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND WARNINGS
According to Mr. Sazegara's videos:
-According to the new law approved by parliament, Assembly of Experts, the Expediency Council, the Guardian Council and Supreme National Security Council may independently practice passing new laws. This new law makes sit easier to directly turn the supreme leaders desires into law, effectively eliminating the democratic process of law making.
- He also highlighted 4 resistance strategies: 1. exposing the oppressors. 2. street protests. 3. non-participation in government organized events and 4. strikes.
Google Docs makes it easy to create, store and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
Student Information Center (SIC)
Newsletter Issue 198 - Monday April 19th, 2010
-- Efforts focused at increasing non-violent civil disobedience in the society.
-- Allah o Akbar during the nights
-- Writing slogans on the walls and bills
-- Being out in the streets on Thursdays
NEWS
--Kalameh: Mir Hossein Mousavi addressed a group of students yesterday. He explained that under the current situation and ban on freedom of press, followers of the Green movement have to take other measures to communicate with each other. He added that he was astounded by the high unemployment rate and the severe dependence of teh ocuntry on oil money. He finished by saying that Iran is a culturally diverse country where 70 million cultured Iranians could live together despite different ideologies.
--JRS: It is reported that Khamenei has suggested that many religious figures in Qom meet with Ahmadinejrad in a move to validate his presidency in the eyes of the people. While some senior clerics complied, many refused these guidelines directly issued by the supreme leader and went as far as saying that meeting with Ahmadinejad would be ungodly.
--BBC: Mohamad Khatemi, former Iranian president and an avid supporter of the green movement was prevented from leaving the country. He was on his way to a anti-nuclear weapons meeting in Japan when he was barred from traveling outside the country. Following this event prime ministers of Canada and Sweden wrote letters to Ahmadinejad expressing their dissatisfaction with the situation. Hamid Rasai, a parliamentary representative who is a supporter of Ahmadinejrad has reported that 150 members of the parliament, including himslef had asked Ahmadinejad to issue a travel ban for Mr. Mousavi, Mr. Khatami and Mr. Karroubi, or as he called them, the "leaders of crisis".
--BBC: The Malaysian oil company Petronas, has declared that it stopped selling gas to Iran as of March 2010. While they did not give any specific reasons, it is speculated that this was in order to not perturb relations with the USA.
--JRS: It is reported that the Revolutionary Guard has taken control of the Jahad building on the main street near one of Tehran's main universities. This building typically belongs to the ministry of agriculture. But it is hypothesized that the Guard was interested in this building because of its location near the University for surveillance. The height of the building also allows for crown control and monitoring.
--JRS: The head of Cannes Film Festival has declared Jafar Panahi to be their special guest at the festival. Mr. Panahi, a renowned Iranian director is still in prison in Iran.
--BBC: Tehran governor had previously said in a interview that the major protests seen immediately after the elections had a permit from the government. In a new interview last week, he denied the that this permit was issued.
--Radio Farda: The office of Ahmadinejad has declared that he wrote another letter to Mr. Obama last week where he has told him that the US should learn how to fight terrorism from Iran. This is the second letter sent by Ahmadinejad that has received no response.
--BBC: Karim Mohammad Beigi, Mustafa's father, the 27 years old man who died during the Ashura protests, has said that his son died in injustice and that he has not yet recieved any explanations for his death. He asked human rights watch groups to carry on his message and let the world know of these injustices so that his son's death was not in vain.
--Radio Farda: On Wednesday,International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran called for an immediate stop to of the "special court" that has been assembled in Evin Prison. This court works outside the juridicial system where many of the accused do not have access to a defense. This court shows the extent of the Revolutionary Guards reach wthin the judiciary system.
--BBC: American Institute of Research about censorship (CRC) announced the distribution of a special Internet Proxy Iran called "Haystack" which allows users in Iran to bypass government filters and have full access to the internet (http://www.haystacknetwork.com).
UNIVERSITY NEWS
--JRS: Seyed Ali Asghar Beheshti Shirazi (cousin Ali Beheshti, consultant to Mir Hossein Mousavi) who was a University professor, has officially been banned from the Science and Technology University.
--JRS: a group of Allameh Tabatabai University students staged a protest when one senior adviser to Ahmadinejad visited their campus. They protested his presence by singing songs and shouting slogans.
NEWS OF THE ARRESTED
--BBC: Mohamad Nourizad, journalist and Iranian filmmaker, was sentenced to 3 and half years in prison and 50 lashes. He was accused of speaking against the state and insulting government officials. HE was arrested after posting a critique of the supreme leader on his personal blog. He subsequently spent 4 months in jail, where 70 days were in solitary confinement.
--Kalameh: A group of political prisoners in Evin sent a letter to UN Secretary-General. They asked him to visit them in Evin prison during his trip to Iran. In order to truly appreciate their dire condition, they asked him to visit them and interview them in private.
--Saham News: Mehdi Karroubi visited the family of Ahmad Zaydabadi today who was arrested during the unrest. During this meeting the family described Zaydabadi's condition as very bad where is is in a prison cell with convicted murderers and drug traffickers. After spending 35 days in solitary confinement (with 17 of those days being a hunger strike), He was sentenced to six years in prison, 5 years exile in Gonabad, and a lifelong ban on any political activity, written or oral. Mr. Mousavi and his wife also visited the family of Mr. Zaydabadi to show their support.
--JRS: One JRS reporter who was recently released from prison reports on a large number of detainees in Evin who are in prison while awaiting trial or unclear as to what will happen to them. The list of these names was made available through SIC last week.
--Rahana: Two members of the human rights committee were summoned to Evin prison for security investigation last week. This is while the detention of two other activists were confirmed last week after a month of questioning by their families.
--Rahana: Issa Saharkhiz was acquitted of charges of publishing lies and propaganda against the government.
--Green Voice: Majid Tavakoli, student activist was sentenced in a lower court where he was not allowed to have a lawyer. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison, followed by a 5 year ban on political activity as well as a five year travel bad. His lawyer is still trying to arrange a situation where his sentence would be reconsidered and he could defend Mr. Tavakoli.
--Green Voice: Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, political activist and magazine director was arrested in late December. According to his lawyer, his situation is deplorable and after 4 months of his detention, he is still in solitary confinement.
--Reporters of the Committee for Human Rights: Mohammad Ghaznavian, women's and children's rights activist who was released on a heavy bail, was returned to prison only 9 days after paying his bail.
--Rahana: Yaser Yousefzadeh, chief of Mousavi's campaign in the city of Babolsar has been arrested for over a month. It is reported that his physical and mental condition is very bad at this point in time.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND WARNINGS
According to Mr. Sazegara's videos:
-According to the new law approved by parliament, Assembly of Experts, the Expediency Council, the Guardian Council and Supreme National Security Council may independently practice passing new laws. This new law makes sit easier to directly turn the supreme leaders desires into law, effectively eliminating the democratic process of law making.
- He also highlighted 4 resistance strategies: 1. exposing the oppressors. 2. street protests. 3. non-participation in government organized events and 4. strikes.
Google Docs makes it easy to create, store and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
