Iran: sum up

Shirin Ebadi said that criminals are treated better than political prisoners. The fact bail for an accused rapist was set 50 times lower than for a detained reporter reflected political interference in the judiciary.
Parnaz Azima a journalist of Radio Free Europe/Radio Farda is released, but is not allowed to leave the country.
In a letter to the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, Ms Ebadi complained that a confessed rapist had been treated more leniently than Ms Azima, who has been accused of producing propaganda against the Islamic state.
Bail was set for the Radio Free Europe journalist at $500,000 50 times that of a rapist, and she had her passport confiscated.

She still has not been able to see her other client.the Iranian-American Haleh Esfandiari.




Also Mehrnoushe Solouki is still being hold in Iran for unknown reasons.
She wasreleased after payment of 80,000 euros in bail, and her French passport was returned to her after the French embassy intervened.
But the Iranian authorities are still holding on to all her notes and a portable hard drive.
Of course, the online petition can still be signed.



In Iran is a crackdown on dissent under way. Not only 4 American-Iranians are detained on charges of espionage, also students, teachers, woman's rightactivists, unionmembers, workers, human rights activists, members of ethnic or religious minorities and others are harassed or persecuted.
Also books which have been on the permitlist for years are forbidden.
Newspapers have a list of banned topics, including the rise in gasoline prices or other economic woes like possible new international sanctions, negotiations with the United States over the future of Iraq, civil society movements and the Iranian-American arrests.
At least 3 prominent NGO's on broader legal rights or civil society have been shuttered outright and hundreds of others have been forced underground.
Professors have been warned attending overseas conferences or having any contact with foreign governments.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: basis

Thursday, a man named Ghaffar is been hanged in the prison of the city of Kalaj.
The daily Iran reported that he was accused of drugstrafficking.




After years of silence, former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi spoke of his concern that the increasing poverty is threatening the basis of the Islamic republic.
In a speech he complained that the country was becoming immune to pictures of impoverished minors and statistics that he said showed that 20 percent of Tehran children were homeless.
He noted that Article 43 of Iran's constitution said that it must aim to provide all the basic needs and food to its people.


Rescue teams pulled 13 Iranian construction workers to safety after the men were trapped when a tunnel they were digging near Tabriz, this Sunday collapsed.
The governor general of East Azerbaijan province said that they are all safe and with their families.
Also he said that 13 people had been caught in the collapse, not 25 as reported earlier.
The tunnel is part of a highway being built between the northern city of Tabriz and the capital Tehran.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: leader

The Iranian State Television reported that military and security forces found the hiding place of the group Jondallah in Sistan-e-Baluchestan and during fights killed and wounded members of the group.
Also the groupleader Abdolmalek Rigi is supposed to be injured.
Jondallah is an extremely violent Sunni muslim group which is previously linked to al Qaeda.
The previous years they took responsability for various roadside attacks which took the lives of many people.



Shirin Ebadi is once again been elected as chairwoman of the Iranian Human Rights Defenders Association, following the organization's internal elections.

The association also reelected its vice-chairperson and spokesperson



President Ahmadinejad, , himself being the son of a blacksmith, says he gets much economic information by talking to his butcher.
According to the daily Sharq he told at a meeting with worker unions there are hardworking shopkeepers in his neighbourhood where he gets important economical information because they are living among the people.
For example he told about his butcher who is aware of all the problems of the people and he gets also important economic information from him.
It is not the first time Ahmadinejad has pointed to his local shopkeepers when addressing Iranian economic issues.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: feelings

Human Rights Watch called on Iran to immediate release of the eight students who were detained between May 3 and June 6 for allegedly defaming Islam in student publications.
In May various Islam defaming texts appeared in studentpublications and although the editors immediately denounced this act and stated that the editions were forgeries, they were arrested.
They are in solitary confinement in section 209 of Tehran's Evin Prison and have been denied any access to their families or lawyers.
The names are:
Ahmad Ghassaban editor of Sahar, member of the students association;
Pouyan Mahmoudian, editor of Rivar;
Majid Sheikhpour, editor of Sar Khat;
Majid Tavakoli, member-elect of the central committee of students association;
Ehsan Mansouri,
Abbas Hakim, and
Ali Saberi, former members of the central committee of students association.


An high-level Iranian cleric said Friday that the religious edict calling for the killing of Salman Rushdie cannot be revoked, and he warned Britain was defying the Islamic world by granting the author knighthood.
During a sermon at Tehran University, aired live on state radio, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami reminded worshippers of the 1989 fatwa.He did not directly call for the fatwa to be carried out.
In 1989,the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued the fatwa over Rushdie because his book 'The Satanic Verses'.
In 1998 the Iranian government declared that it would not support the fatwa but that it could not be rescinded.


Hundreds of followers of the Prophet Zoroaster are meeting in the cave of Chik Chik to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Islamic invasion of Iran.
Zoroastrians commemorate every year the anniversary, which marks the end of their faith as the predominant religion in the country.
Only 50,000 Zoroastrians have remained today in Iran out of the half a million who practised the religion before the 1979 Islamic revolution


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: wave

The website of state-run television IRIB reported on Thursday that in Khorramabad a man publicly is hanged.
The report did not identify the man.
He was accused of murder and robbery.


Mission Network News, a christian newsagency providing worldwide evangelisation news, reports a new "wave of persecution" of Iranian believers.
Many christians in several different parts of the country have been detained by police, interrogated and released.
According to MNN Iran ranks third on the list of the world's worst persecutors of Christians
Even though Christians belong to one of the recognized religious minorities who are guaranteed religious freedom, they have reported imprisonment, harassment and discrimination because of their faith.


The revenues from import duties on cellphone handsets increased by 600 percent in the year to March 2007 compared to figure for the preceding year.
This follows the government’s decision to increase import tariffs to stimulate domestic production and upgrading technical knowledge.
The director of Iran Telecommunication Manufacturing Company (ITMC) said that domestically-made mobile phone handsets would enter the market in a few days.
Initially, the first domestically-made cellphone handsets would enter the market in June but this was delayed due to bureaucracy and high tariffs on SKD (semi-knockdown) devices.
The cellphone handset has been designed in a way to compete with leading handsets.
Once production has started, about 300,000 cellphone handsets will be produced within six months and around one million annually.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: suspended

Wednesday is in the city of Shiraz, Fars province, a man hanged in public.
The daily Etemaad wrote that the man, Nasrollah, 40, was accused of drug trafficking



The stoning of Makroumeh Ebrahimi and the father of her 11 year old illegitimate child was suspended in the last minute by written order of the Head of Judiciary in Tehran.
Worldwide protests were risen following the announcement of the stoning.
Already in 2002 judiciary head Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi issued a directive suspending the practice of stoning.

However, after this date at least two cases of practicing stoning are known.
At the moment there are at least seven other men and women who are sentenced to stoning for having committed adultery.
One of them, Kobra Najjar, who had been forced to prostitution by her husband, a drug addict, is also facing stoning to death after her appeal to the Judiciary Commission for Amnesty and Clemency was rejected for the third time last week.




Iranian State television reported Wednesday, that during armed clashes with drugstraffickers in Sistan-e-Baluchestan province, 26 drugssmugglers were arrested and 5 tons of narcotics has been confiscated.
The area is near the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan and is a mayor drug route to Europe.



The deputy director of IRIB told Wednesday, that the in April announced English language broadcasts from PressTV worldwide will start July 2nd .
Press TV plans to present news every half hour, round-the-clock.
The network will mainly focus on developments in the Middle East and the United States and analysis of current events throughout the world.
Press TV currently has 26 professional correspondents, and there are plans to hire more reporters.

In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: aftershock

Here in Farsi and here in English is a call for action because of the fact that Thursdaymorning a stoning will take place in Takistan, Qazvin province, of a man and a woman in front of the towns graveyard. The pits are dug and prepared.
The stoning will be public and the judge will be present and throw the first stone.
A list with addresses, faxes and telephonenumbers of Iranian authorities and Embassy's is here.
Makroumeh Ebrahimi , 43 has spent the last 11 years in prison, together with the man of whom she has a child.This child is also 11 years old.
The man is sentenced to be stoned with her.They are accused of adultery.
This is never legally proven to be true.

Mehrnoushe Solouki, 38, a French-Iranian filmmaker, who lives in Canada, has been under virtual house arrest for several months in Tehran despite not being charged with a crime.
Unconfirmed reports say she is now staying at the French Embassy.
In February Solouki was arrested and transported to Evinprison. In March she was released but her passport was confiscated, so she could not leave the country.
A friend who has intermittent e-mailcontacts with her, tries through an online petition to release her.



Yesterday Central-Iran was jolted by an aftershock with a magnitude of 4.4 on the Richter scale.
The epicenter was also near Kahak, Qom province.
There are no reports of casualties or damages.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: damages

Monday, a moderate earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 on the Richter scale has jolted Qom province in Iran.
The tremor was felt in the cities of Tehran, Karaj, Qom, Garmsar, Varamin and Kashan.
The epicenter of the eartquake has been located near Kahak, a small town near the city of Qom.
There were no reports of of casualties or severe damages.


An official of the Iranian Health Ministry said that 350,000 people were in danger of parasitic and intestinal epidemics in the area which was affected by the Cyclone Gonu.
Due to the lack of access to clean water and the still blocked roads, there is a great risk of outbreak of diseases.
There also is a shortage of helicopters and other aerial aid, meaning most of the emergency goods were being transported to the area on heavy vehicles.
People in the provinces Sistan-e-Baluchestan, Hormozgan and Kerman are specifically in danger of contracting malaria because of standing water that remains in areas throughout the region.


Amnesty International has called for urgent action for
Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi (m), Shi'a cleric,
Sayed Mahdi Kazemeyni Boroujerdi (m), his son
Massoud Samavatiyan (m)
Alireza Montazer Sa’eb (m)
Ali Shahrabi Farahani (m)
Habib Qouti (m)
Ahmad Karimiyan (m)
Majid Alasti (m)

There are unconfirmed reports that Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi was
sentenced to death in Branch 3 of the Special Court for the Clergy (SCC) on 10
June, after an unfair and closed trial, and that six of his followers, named
above, were sentenced to death on 13 June.
The unconfirmed reports say Ayatollah Boroujerdi was found guilty of at least
30 charges, including "waging war against god" (Mohareb); acts against national security; publicly calling political leadership by the clergy (Velayat-e Faqih) unlawful;
having links with anti-revolutionaries and spies; and using the term "religious dictatorship"
instead of "Islamic Republic" in public discourse and radio interviews.
A further 62 of the Ayatollah's followers are reportedly due to be tried on 17
June.
It is feared some or all may also face the death penalty.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: names

The number of children facing execution in Iran is this year DOUBLED to 68.
According to a recent report submitted to Iran's Parliament 41 children are sentenced to death in Iran.
Comparing the published names with the list of the Stop Child Executions Campaign, the number of children is 68.
The youngest child facing execution is Ahmad Norouzi who was sentenced to death 2 years ago for alleged drug dealing at the age of 12 . Ahmad is now 15 years old.

Details of the list can be found here(Farsi).
The names:

Ali Nour-Mohammadi (16)
Rasoul Soghra (17)
Amir Chale-Chale (17)
Bahador Khaelghi (17)
Ali Mahin-Torabi (16)
Naser Ghasemi (15)
Rasoul Aboutondi (17)
Reza Ali-Nejad (17)
Nabovat Babai (17)
Delara Darabi-Haghihi (17)f
Soghra Najaf-Pour (13) f
Mohammd-Reza Tork
Rasoul Nooryani
Iman Nabavi
Mehdi Ghandali
Nazbibi Atashbejan (16)f
Siavash Shir-Nejad
Mahiar Anvari
Mohammd Mavari
Abdolkhalegh Rakhshani
Saiid Arab
Hani Momeni-Yasaghi
Salman Akbari
Mohammad Pejman
Rahman Shahidi
Hasan Mozafari
Sadegh Ahmad-Pour
Ahmad Jaberi
Akoo Hoseini
Feyzollah Soltani
Gholamnabi Barahooti
Omroldin Alkoozei
Mostafa Saiidi
Zolfali Hamzeh
Khodamorad Shadmazahi
Omid Sarani
Ahmad Norouzehi
Naim Kabeali
Habib Afshar
Alireza Mosali-Roudi
Ali Moradzadeh-Zagheh

Following names who are on the Stop Child Executions List were not mentioned in the report. It is feared that the reason some of the names on the SCE Campaign list were not mentioned in the report to parliament is that few may have already been executed. (Sina Paymard is confirmed to be alive):
Sina Paymard (16)
Masoud (17)
Shahram PourMansouri (17)
Hedayat Niroumand (15)
Hamid (17)
Abbas Hossein
Rasoul Mohamadi
Hamid-Reza (14)
Nemat
Vahid
Hamed
Beniamin Rasouli (m), 17
Hossein Toranj (m), 17
Hossein Haghi (m), 17
Morteza Feizi (m), 16
Sa’eed Jazee (m), 17
Milad Bakhtiari (m), 16
Farshad Sa’eedi (m), 17
Mahmoud (m), 17
Saber (m)
Sajjad (m), 17
Farzad (m), 15
Hossein Gharabaghloo (m), 16
Asghar (m), 16
Hamzeh S (m), 17

First names of the following two are the same on the two lists however due to lack of information it is not possible to confirm if they are the same individuals :
Iman (m), 17
Mostafa (m), 16

The petition still can be signed.



In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: incident

In the city of Bandar Abbas are according to ISNA Saturday 4 drugstraffickers hanged.
Malek S. 30, was hanged for trading 1.018 kilosof heroin.
Javad S., 23,was convicted for possessing 29 kilos of opium and weapons.
Qasem and Kavoos, were executed for having 154 kilos of opium and weapons.


Iran has criticised the British government for its decision to give a knighthood to author Salman Rushdie.
Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said the decision to praise the "apostate" put the UK in confrontation with other people. He also said that the decision to give a knighthood to Rushdie showed that the proces of insulting islam was not accidental but is being supported by some Western countries.
Salman Rushdie was among 950 people appearing on the Queens List of Honour.

Nine people were killed in road accidents in the past seven days in Golestan province.
Colonel Mohammad Reza Kabousi, commander of Golestan Highway Police told IRNA that high speed, diversion to the left and reckless driving caused the fatal road accidents.
He said that using mobile phones is another high-risk behavior during driving, adding that a majority of drivers are unable to control the car while talking on the phone.
More than 250 accidents occurred in the past seven days, in which 121 people were wounded and hospitalized.

In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: decrease

A big fire damaged a house and injured two people when 1,000 liters of hoarded gasoline went up in flames.
Following the announcement Thursday, of an imminent fuel rationing the fuel stored at the house leaked and caught fire when it came into contact with a waterheater nearby.
A member of Tehran Fire Department told Fars Newsagency that firefighters struggled for two hours to extinguish the blaze.
The first phase of the fuel rationing plan was launched on Thursday.
Despite the enormous oil fields, Iran lacks raffinerycapacity to meet the high domestic needs.
Also a lot of oil disappears through smuggling or black markets.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: diction, jurisdiction

The daily Tehran Emrooz wrote that Wednesday five men were hanged in Evinprison, Tehran.
The men were not named.
Three of the men were accused with murder, the other two men were drugstraffickers.


The arrested members of the Onemillionsignatures Campaign, Ehteram Shadfar, 62 and her neighbour, 50, who wishes to stay anonymous, are after being questioned by the Security Branch of the Revolutionary Courts, released.
They were arrested at their home on the verge of the anniversary of the day of peaceful demonstration for women solidarity on June 12, 2006. Thereafter they were transported to Niloufar police station and then to Vozara Detention Center, where they were released after one day and on their own personal guarantee.

Amnesty International called upon Iran to respect the internationally recognised rights to freedom of expression and assembly and to end the harassment of those campaigning to uphold women’s rights in Iran.Since 10 April 2007, when Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie publicly accused the women's movement and student campaigners of being part of an enemy conspiracy aiming at a “soft subversion” of the government in Iran, the harassments have increased.


Iran's highest judiciary, the head of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Shahrudi said that from the viewpoint of Islamic Sharia, the issue of imprisonment is in contrast with the the Islamic penal rules.
Islamic fundamentalists believe that depending on the nature of the crime, physical punishmentes such as flogging, chopping hands, removal of eyes, stoning and executions should be used instead of imprisonment. In the past two months 2 children were executed by Ayatollah Shahrudi's approval.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: candy

The Iranian parliament voted in favor of a bill that could lead to death penalty for persons convicted of working in the production of pornographic movies.
With a 148-5 vote in favor and four abstentions, members of parliament approved that producers of pornographic works and main elements in their production are considered 'corruptors of the world' and could be sentenced to punishment as corruptors of the world.
The term, "corruptor of the world" is taken from the Quran and ranks among the highest on the scale of an individual's criminal offenses. Under Iran's Islamic Penal Code, it carries a death penalty.
The "main elements" refered to in the draft include producers, directors, cameramen and actors involved in making a pornographic video.
Besides videos, the bill covers all electronic visual material, such as DVD and CDs. Other material, such as porn magazines and books are already banned under Iranian law.
To become law, the bill requires an approval by the Guardian Council.



The hot weather in Tehran threatens a chocolate statue of the Achaemenid soldier which is being made by Iranian artists for the World Handicrafts Day.
Mohammad Ali Esmaeil-Zadeh, designer of the statue, told IranDaily that the hot weather in Tehran makes the chocolate melt and this creates problems.
25 sculptors are working on the statue and some 300 kg to 400 kg of chocolate will be used.

The four-meter high statue will be revealed in Tehran, July 14.

In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl

Iran: persecution

The Iranian authorities have intensified the pressure on Iran's Bahai religious minority.
Recently there was an official order to security forces to
"boost efforts to identify heretics and a take the necessary measures to stop their activities." .
The document, which has also been viewed by Asma Jahanghir, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, worries Iran's Bahai community,which is estimated at roughly 350,000 believers.
Baha'i and other members of religious minorities have been severely persecuted in the first years after the Islamic Revolution from 1979 and many Baha'i were executed in those years.
The Baha'i continue to be subject to discrimination and f.i. of the 180 Bahaìs who reportedly gained access to Iranian universities this academic year, 120 were subsequently banned for a variety of official reasons.

Here an update on recent attacks on Iranian Baha'is.
Here in Farsi.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl