FUTURE PLANS
--Preparation for 22nd of Bahman demonstration and the "ten-day civil residence".
--Efforts focused at increasing non-violent civil disobedience in the society.
--Allah o Akbar during the nights until 11th of February
--Writing slogans on the walls and bills
--Gathering in front of Evin prison every night at 8:00 pm to demand release of political prisoners
--Jaras/United4Iran: Iranians across the UK, US and other countries have planned solidarity events on the eve of 22Bahman (February 11). For a complete list of upcoming events visit http://united4iran.com/2010/01/call-to-action-events-worldwide-for-22-bahman/.

NEWS
--Kalameh: Recent technical difficulties in accessing internet inside Iran [which seems to be the intentional tactic of the Regime before Feb 11 protests] made one of the anchors of the popular 'Good Morning Iran' program on IRIB 1 to react. As reported by AsrIran, the anchor of 'Excess Talk' of 'Good Morning Iran' openly criticized and mocked the officials for internet slowdown in his political satire program.

--Kalameh: "We, the members of the caucus intend to visit some senior figures of the Islamic Republic" said Dariush Ghanbari, a leading member of the Reformist Caucus in Iranian Parliament "we, in the caucus, will pay visits and have conversations with figures such as Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, Ali-Akbar Nateq-Noori, Mahdavi-Kani, Seyyed-Mohammad Khatami, Mahdi Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi."

--VOA Persian: Permits have been issued by the Iranian Government for foreign journalists to enter Tehran and cover the government-sanctioned rallies of Feb. 11. At the same time, some Iranian journalists wrote a letter to their foreign colleagues and asked them to cover the anticipated opposition protests as well. (Their letter is attached to this newsletter.)

--Radio Zamaneh: Catherine Ahston, the Foreign Commissioner of EU asked Iranian officials to stop the execution of nine post-election detainees who have been sentenced to death by the revolutionary court.

--JARAS: Some sources have revealed parts of Regime's comprehensive plan to face opposition protests on Feb 11. According to these sources, the main rally venue in Tehran has been divided between different Basiji units coming from cities all over Iran; each of these units will be responsible to fill the assigned space early in the morning [so that the opposition protestors can have no access to the main venue.]

--JARAS: Webna, an Iranian website containing a directory of all Iranian websites, was blocked inside Iran a few minutes ago.

ANALYSIS
An article by Akbar Ganji has been attached to this newsletter. This is the first part of a three-part series about "transition to democracy" which are going to be published in Radio Farda.

NEWS OF THE ARRESTED
--JARAS: Forough Mirzayi and Bahareh Hedayat are still denied visitors.

--Norouz: Mehdi Karoubi paid a visit to the household of Mohammad Javad Mozaffar, the deputy chair of "protecting the rights of prisoners", stated his sympathy for them and criticized the way the prisoners and their families are being treated.

--Rahana: On January 2nd, security forces arrested Mr. Mehrnia at his home. At the time of arrest, his family members were told that he was going to be asked a couple of questions and that he would be released shortly. However, after a fortnight, his family members are still waiting for a phone call.

--Rahana: Mohammad Yousef Rashidi, a student who was deprived of continuing his studies at Amir-Kabir University, after spending 70 days in the section 209 in Evin prison, was transferred to the section 7 together with 40 other detainees.

--Radio Farda: The family members of the detained members of the Liberation Front of Iran have sent a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, asking for the release of Ebrahim Yazdi, the general secretary of this organization, and other political detainees. The relatives of Bazargan, Basteh-Negar, Tavassoli, Sahhabi, Shariati, Sabbaghian, Sadr Haj Seyyed Javadi, Taleghani, Ghoravi, Yazdi and other members of this political party signed this letter.

--Rahana: The body of Arash Rahmanipour, who was executed last week, was given to his family on Saturday. The security forces have not allowed the family members of Arash Rahmanipour , the recently executed political prisoner, to commemorate himby a shrine in front of his house. They have also been banned from arranging any memorial ceremonies.

--Rahana: on the 40th night after the night of Ashura, an invitation had been sent to the public to gather in front of Evin prison to join the families of the political detainees and protest against the arrest of the post-election activists who are in captivity with no clear charges. According to Jaras, all the streets leading to Evin had been blocked and occupied by security forces, preventing the gathering from happening.

--Kalameh: The mother and father of Mehrdad Rahimi, the vice-president of Karroubi's committee to defend the citizens' rights and a member of the Human Rights's reporters, who had been detained since 11th of Dey (beginning of January), have sent a letter to Abbas Jafari Dolat Abadi, the general prosecutor of Tehran. In this letter they have described the situation of their son.

--Kalameh: Masoud Noor-Mohammadi, the brother of Saeed Noor-Mohammadi, the detained member of the Participation Front, who had been arrested 2 weeks ago, contacted his family yesterday and let them know that he is healthy. According to Nowrooz, he mentioned that the reason for his arrest is sending mails and text messages. I emphasized that had not sent any illegal email or text-messages, in his conversation with his parents.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND WARNINGS
On his video broadcast on Saturday, Mohsen Sazegara mentioned the following points:
1- It is reported that Azadi Ave has been divided up between Basijis of different provinces so that each can occupy the space allocated to their unit by their forces. It seems that these Basijis want to show up with green symbols and join the ranks of the green movement to pretend that everybody has come to streets in support of the current government. However we, the Green Movement, have experienced similar situations in the past and we know how to separate our ranks from theirs (e.g. by using green symbols and showing V sign etc). Furthermore we should remember that we outnumber Basijis significantly therefore there is no need for us to do violence; we should instead show the maturity of the green movement. What is important is to make sure that we all come to streets in peace and we should all try to encourage our friends and acquaintances to take part in the protests.
2- Despite the fact that people's gathering in front of Evin prison as well as the event for the commemoration of Green Movement martyrs in Behesht-e-Zahra [Tehran's biggest cemetery] were held under the strong presence of security forces, people chanted anti-government slogans in these events.
3- The laborers of the Avangan factory came to the streets once again yesterday despite the clashes between them and the security forces the day before. The situation has not calmed down and there are still reports of tension on the ground.
4- We can confront the activities of the so-called Iranian Cyber Army [a group of hackers sponsored by Iranian Government and attack opposition websites] by taking a few precautionary steps; First of all, if you are already using GMAIL and you have secured it, they can never access the contents of your account directly unless you open suspicious attachments you receive through email; those attachments might contain key-logger programs which will install on your computer, will record your password and send it to them. Therefore if you do not know the sender of an email, do not open it. Also try to change your password regularly. Do not use Internet Explorer [since it is known to have security vulnerabilities] and try to use Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari instead.

Posted by مرکز اطلاع رسانی دانشجویی‌ at 7:05 PM 0 comments  

FUTURE PLANS
--Preparation for 22nd of Bahman demonstration and the "ten-day civil residence".
--Holding the 40th day anniversary of the martyrs of Ashoura day, on 16th of Bahman, at the same time az Arba'een day.
--Efforts focused at increasing non-violent civil disobedience in the society.
--Allah o Akbar during the nights until 11th of February
--Writing slogans on the walls and bills
--Gathering in front of Evin prison every night at 8:00 pm to demand release of political prisoners
--Jaras/United4Iran: Iranians across the UK, US and other countries have planned solidarity events on the eve of 22Bahman (February 11). For a complete list of upcoming events visit http://united4iran.com/2010/01/call-to-action-events-worldwide-for-22-bahman/.

NEWS
--Kalemeh: Yesterday a group of families of the post-election political prisoners had a meeting with Mehdi Karroubi, and discussed the latest situations regarding their imprisoned family member and the problems that the families have had. According to the Reporters Committee for Human Rights, these people talked with Mr. Karrubi: Saeed Mohammadi, the lawyer of "Mehrdad Rahimi", the deputy head of the citizenship rights committee of Mehdi Karroubi campaign and a member of human right reporters commitee; Two brothers of "Mehrdad Bozorg", a student of university of Tehran University; Marziyeh Golru, the sister of "Mahdieh Golru"; Nasim Chalaki, sister of "Peyman Chalaki" political activist; Shahrzad Kariman, mother of "Shiva Nazar-Ahari" civil and political activist, and a human rights reporters Committee member; brother of "Ehsan Dolatshah", a student Tehran University;and finally Sajjad Haeri, brother of "Sarrf Haeri". These people mentioned the pressures and tortures that their family member is being put through for fake confessions. Mehdi Karroubi condemned the illegal detentions of political activists in the months after the elections, and said such irrational attitudes toward political activists and the imprudence in managing the situation has surprised everyone, and that these unwise reactions in all aspects including foreign politics and economics are hurting the regime, and asked for logical management of the country. He said despite all the problems that he has faced, he will keep supporting the freedom of political prisoners and Full text of the report is attached to the newsletter.

--Kalemeh: Fortieth day ceremony of Ali Habibi Mousavi, Mir Hossein Mousavi nephew, and one of the martyrs of Ashura day in Tehran was held yesterday, 5pm. Security forces were reported to be present at the ceremony. Due to heavy rain, the participants left ceremony after a few minutes of pray, and continued the event at Mr. Habibi's house. In this event, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, and a group of political and cultural figures were also present.

--Parlman News: A member of Imam fraction of parliament, gave report of a letter of protest written by Hassan Khomeini addressed to Ezzatollah Zarghami, after state TV's selective broadcast of the speech of the founder of the Islamic Revolution, ayatollah Khomeini.
--SIC: Reports published on social networks and green movement websites indicate that a group of people had gathered in Behesht-e Zahra cemetery today to mourn the fortieth day ceremony of Ashura martyrs. These reports say several motorcycles, vans and police cars had stationed around sections No. 256 and 257 of this cemetery and that several police and security agents were present around sections No. 302 and 304. Two videos showing the intense security measures and the mourning of Amir Tajmir's mother, a martyr of Ashura clasesh in Tehran are attached to the newsletter.

--Green Voice of Freedom: National Youth Staff supporting Khatami and Mousavi (Setad-e 88) invited Iranians to attend 22nd of Bahman rally, to defend the Islamic Revolution ideals and to protest against the Coup. The statement is attached to the newsletter.

--Radio Farda: With 22nd of Bahman approaching, Zahra Rahnavard demanded unconditional release of the political prisoners. In this note, Ms. Rahnavard pointed to the right violations of women after the revolution, and asked the officials to release female political prisoners first. She reviewed women's problem in the past years and said "if we don't put issues like equality of blood money for men and women, elimination of polygamy, the need for ministry and management by women in priority right now, it's because bigger ideals have been neglected right now."

--Jaras/Int'l Campaign for Human Rights: Mourning Mothers, a group of wives and mothers who have lost their spouses or children during the post-elections protests or whose spouses or children are currently in prison, have issued a statement, objecting to executions of political protesters and execution sentences for several political prisoners, demanding revocation of death sentences for political prisoners. They have issued a warning to Islamic Republic of Iran: "Don't allow a repeat of the 1980's catastrophe." They are referencing mass executions of political dissidents in 1988 during which it is said thousands were executed in Islamic Republic prisons. Islamic Republic authorities have continually maintained silence on these executions. Mourning Mothers have also demanded release of "prisoners of conscience," and trials of "those who were responsible for and who ordered their children's murders." The statement adds: "We, the Mourning Mothers, who have gathered spontaneously at Laleh Park, other parks, and public buildings over the past seven months to condemn the murders and arrests and demanding an end to these inhumane and illegal actions, are facing our own children's executions today." "Who has subjected the mothers to this gradual death, mourning our loved ones?…Should our children's participation in elections lead to their arrest, torture, rape, murder, and execution?" According to Mourning Mothers, if such violence against Iranian youth continues, public protests will also increase.

--Deutsche Welle: European Union foreign policy representative issues a statement, to demand Iran to immediately stop the increasing trend of executions, specially execution that aim only to intimidate "anti-government protesters". According to German News Agency, Catherine Ashton, said in this statement " The union is against death sentence in any case, and asks Iran to stop this trend immediately. European Union hearby proclaims its deep concern."

--BBC News: Committee to Protect Journalists reported that at least 47 journalists are currently in prison, and with that information, since 1996 to now, the number of journalist prisoners in Iran is the highest among all other countries. According to the report, the journalist prisoners in Iran have passed those in Chine. This is while the report does not include the names of more than 50 other journalists who have been arrested and then released in the past few months.

--Radio Farda: Three large organizations of Journalists, Workers, and Human Rights activists held a joint meeting in Brussels, capital of Belgium, on Wednesday. In this meeting the three organizations asked the Europe and World leaders to put new pressure on the Islamic Republic, to make them respect human rights and freedom of expression. They also asked Iran government to stop intimidation of the human right defenders, and to release tens of writers, journalists, worker activists, and the opposition members. In the statement published by Journalists Organization, since the start of the protests against the government in June, "human right violations, which already existed in freedom of speech and freedom of expression of protest", has intensified. According to the general secretary of the journalist federation, "if Iran wants to end its isolation, it needs to open doors to dialog and criticism, and allow the protesters to speak."

--Radio Farda: AUT site, was hacked on Thursday by army of cyber (said to be directed by Iranian government, although never confirmed by the government). A week ago, Radio Zamaneh website was also hacked and put out of service for 4 days.

--Times:A British national has begged forgiveness from an Iranian revolutionary court after being put on trial in Tehran for subversive activities, Iranian websites reported yesterday. An unidentified woman, 24, the daughter of a British mother and Iranian father, has admitted some of the charges against her including encouraging and attending demonstrations, consorting with foreigners and drinking alcohol, government and opposition websites said. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has asked the Iranian Government for clarification of the reports, and that the woman be given consular assistance if true. That is unlikely to be granted, though, because Iran does not recognise dual nationality. The woman, who was born in Manchester but is believed to teach English in Tehran, is one of sixteen opposition supporters who went on trial late last week for allegedly plotting against the regime and conspiring with Iran's foreign enemies.

NEWS OF THE ARRESTED
--JRS: Political prisoners in Evin prison, sent a message to people about the protesting gathering which is planned to be held in front of the prison on 22nd of Bahman. They have asked for people's participation in 22nd of Bahman rally, and they asked people to pay attention to Mir Hossein Mousavi's comments about the status of the judiciary system. Full text of the message is attached to the newsletter.

--JRS: Families of Freedom Movement members arrested after election sent a letter to leader of Islamic Republic, to ask for release of Mr. Ebrahim Yazdi. This letter, signed by family members of Bazargan, Basteh Negar, Tavassoli, Sahabi, Shariati, Sabaghian, Sadr Haj Seyed Javadi, Gharavi, Yazdi and other freedom Movement members, asks Mr. Ali khamenei, the leader to make steps for release of Ebrahim Yazdi and other political prisoners, so that the public trust is gained and the situation can be ready for public dialog.
--JRS: "Keyvan Mehregan", journalist arrested on 8th of Dey, is still in solitary confinement. In a phone call with his family, he said the charges are currently relationship with Freedom Movement, and his journalis activities.

--BBC News: Hassan Rasouli, the dupty executive officer of Baraab foundation, and Abolfazl Ghadyani, a member of Mojahedin organization were freed last night (Thursday 4th of February) They were arrested after Ashoura day.

--Committee of Human Rights Reporters: Golnaz Tavasoli, a Student of Azad University was arrested yesterday. Her family have no information about her location.

--Committee of Human Rights Reporters: The interrogation of Saeed Jalali-Far, Human Rights Committee member and a member of the Defense of the street children is finished and he is charged with propaganda activities. He is currently held in Evin prison in a cell with 3 or 4 prisoners, and he protests against his temporary arrest.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND WARNINGS
Mohsen Sazegara mentioned the following in his Friday video:

- He emphasized the attendance in 22nd of Bahman, and the rally in front of Evin in the afternoon of the same day, and said that it is possible that 22nd of Bahman can be the final blow to the government, because the leaders of the green movement are strongly standing, people do not fear anything, and the unity is more strong than ever.
- He said people in small towns can come to Tehran, to avoid being identified, but if they can't, they can go to larger cities in which specific places are designated for rally, and in this case, the distribution of security forces around the country will reduce the pressure on Tehran.
-He mentioned the protests in Laar city which continues after four days.
- 90 of Lebanese scientists and intellectuals have supported the green movement.
- 110 Iranian faculty have protested against a Chinese news article in which the green movement was said to be directed by foreign governments.
- Mothers of the post-election victims asked public to attend 22nd of Bahman rally.
- 17 fractions of the Reformist Front also asked people to attend 22nd of Bahman rally.
- Khamenei's picture on Tohid tunnel was set to fire by some protesters.
- In Berlin, the protesters didn't let the government to hold celebration for the revolution anniversary, and the Iranians in other cities like New York are also planning to do the same.

Posted by مرکز اطلاع رسانی دانشجویی‌ at 3:51 PM 0 comments  

FUTURE PLANS
--Preparation for 22nd of Bahman demonstration and the "ten-day civil residence".
--Holding the 40th day anniversary of the martyrs of Ashoura day, on 16th of Bahman, at the same time az Arba'een day.
--Efforts focused at increasing non-violent civil disobedience in the society.
--Allah o Akbar during the nights until 11th of February
--Writing slogans on the walls and bills
--Gathering in front of Evin prison every night at 8:00 pm to demand release of political prisoners

NEWS
--Green Movement Path (Jrs): Political prisoners in Evin prison, released a statement regarding the upcoming protests. They asked the people to be present next Friday at 8:00pm in front of Evin prison. They also expressed concern for their safety as well as recent rearrangements made at Evin. They asked that protesters follow instructions given by Mir Hossein Mousavi in his recent speech regarding upcoming protests for 22 Bahman.

--Radio Farda: Basij forces attacked a mosque in Shiraz last night. This is the mosque of Ayatollah Dastghaib who is a vocal reformist. Despite his absence, the Basij continued their nightly raids where several individuals were injured. Some pictures are attached to this newsletter.

--SIC: According to some blogs and websites protests in the province of Laar continued for its 4th continuous day. Reportedly, there were clashes between people and security forces although the intensity of the conflict is not yet clear.

--SIC: Workers at Avangan company in Arak city staged a protest against national television and media in Iran. A youtube video of the protest is attached to this newsletter.

--Kalameh: 111 Iranian researcher and professors living abroad addressed a letter to the chinese government criticizing them for their support of the oppressive regime in Iran. They accused China of political opportunism and asked about their motives for supporting Ahmadinejad.

--Kalameh: Omid Mehregan, author, translator and journalist who collaborated and contributed ideas to various reformist publications was arrested from his house last night. He has been taken to an undisclosed location.

--Radio Farda: The website of "[religious] teachers and scholars in Qom and Najaf" (www.motghan.org) has published an open letter addressing the Assembly of Experts. In this letter they state that the legitimacy of the supreme leader has been questioned so it is the responsibility of thsi assembly to address these doubts in order to save the Islamic Revolution. They also criticized political interventions in the judiciary system as well as the over all incompetence in the face of recent events. They also blamed the Guardian Council for creating a violent political atmosphere.

--Radio Farda: Reporters Without Borders issued a statement warning that journalists and bloggers who are currently in trial over charges of acting against the state, are under the threat of execution. Namely, Mr. Amid Montazeri is at risk. His mother was also arrested and his father, a political activist, was executed in the 80s. Another detainee named Mr. Ali Ashraf Fathi who's father is a IRGC martyr.

--Radio Farda: According to the site the Green Movement Path (Jrs): 90 members of elites and intellectuals of a Lebanese democracy movement released a statement supporting the green movement in Iran. The statement reads: "We support the Iranian people in their movement for freedom, democracy and pluralism". A large number of political activists, journalists, writers, poets and publishers along with Lebanese film director, doctor, lawyer, engineer and former representative parliament have signed this statement.

--Radio Farda: It is reported that Mahdi Kalhor, media adviser to Ahmadinejad has been summoned by the police because of domestic abuse allegations. Witnesses and neighbors report that Mr. Kalhor presented himself to his ex-wife's house and began to beat her. His daughter has confirmed this reported through an interview with Radio Farda.

NEWS OF THE ARRESTED

Posted by مرکز اطلاع رسانی دانشجویی‌ at 6:58 PM 0 comments