type here...
Home Blog Page 392

Death Sentences for Five Ahwazi Arabs Upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court

crazydead
-
0
Death Sentences for Five Ahwazi Arabs Upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court

Branch 32 of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has upheld the death sentences of five Ahwazi Arab men convicted of muharibih (waging war against God), ifsad fil-Arz (sowing corruption on earth), propaganda against the Islamic Republic, and acting against national security, according to a source familiar with the case. The five men are: Hashem Shabaninejad (a poet, blogger, and teacher of Arabic literature), Hadi Rashedi (a chemistry teacher), Mohammad Ali Amourinejad (a blogger), Seyyed Jaber Alboshokeh and his brother Seyyed Mokhtar Alboshokeh. The Supreme Court verdict, communicated to the families of the five men on 9 January 2012, was issued by Judges Farajollahi, Gha’em-Maghami, and Lotfi.

According to a source close to the case, the five men, who are all from Khalafabad (Ramshir), were arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence and National Security (MOIS) in Spring 2011. The same source indicated that these men were severely tortured. Hashem Shabaninejad is reported to be suffering from psychological disorders as a result of the harsh torture he has endured. Another man, Hadi Rashedi, has suffered a broken pelvis. A different source, who was detained by the Ministry of Intelligence and National Security (MOIS) in Ahwaz during the same period in connection to the same case, reported that he heard the voice of Hadi Rashedi as he was being tortured.

These five individuals have reportedly been forced to make false confessions. Two of the men, Hadi Rashedi and Hashem Shabaninejad, were featured on a TV show on Press TV, the IRI’s English-language satellite channel, confessing to their alleged subversive acts. Reports indicate that all five men gave these confessions under severe physical and mental torture.  Despite serious doubts concerning the validity of these confessions, and despite the reported lack of credible witnesses, the trial court sentenced all five to death in July 2012 after over a year in detention. IHRDC posted a report on these five men after they were convicted.

Both international law and the Constitution of the IRI prohibit torture and forced confessions. Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Iran has ratified, states, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” In addition, Article 14(3)(g) of the ICCPR expressly states that a prisoner cannot be forced to testify against him or herself or to confess guilt. Article 38 of the Constitution of the IRI prohibits torture for the purpose of extracting confession or acquiring information as well, and declares that all information obtained through torture and forced confessions is invalid.

Source: Iran Human Right

Mehdi Tahaghoghi Arrested to Serve One Year in Prison in Exile

crazydead
-
0
Mehdi Tahaghoghi Arrested to Serve One Year in Prison in Exile

Mehdi Tahaghoghi, member of the Iranian reformist party Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, was arrested in his home by security forces to serve his one year in prison verdict in exile, yesterday.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), quoted from Kalame, Mehdi Tahaghoghi, member of the Iranian reformist party Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution – Official of former president Mohammad Khatami, was arrested by security forces and sent to prison.

He was arrested first time on 24 Feb 2011 and was released on 18 Apr 2011 on $300,00 bail after being held in solitary confinement for months and  being interrogated.

He was threatened to be exiled in worst city by intelligence officers for not cooperating in and interrogations.

Mehdi Tahaghoghi was sentenced to six year in prison exiled to Zahedan city, but was changed to one year in prison exiled to Khorasan by Supreme Court.

Source: HRANA

US sees hand of Iran behind hostage photos of retired FBI agent missing 6 years

crazydead
-
0
US sees hand of Iran behind hostage photos of retired FBI agent missing 6 years

The family of retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, who went missing in Iran in 2007, have released pictures of him dressed in an orange jumpsuit like a Guantánamo Bay prisoner, as they continue to hold hope that he is still alive.

The five photographs were taken in April 2011, just months after the family also received a video that was emailed anonymously.

Mr Levinson, a private investigator, disappeared in 2007 on the Iranian island of Kish. The Iranian government has repeatedly denied knowing anything about his disappearance.

However, the consensus among US officials involved in the case is that despite years of denials, Iran’s intelligence service was almost certainly behind the 54-second video and five photographs.

An expert on Russian organised crime, Mr Levinson, who would now be 64, retired from the FBI in 1998 and became a private investigator. He was investigating cigarette smuggling in early 2007, and his family has said that took him to the Iranian island of Kish, where he was last seen.

Reformist journalist Mohammad Kimiai arrested in Qazvin

crazydead
-
0
Reformist journalist Mohammad Kimiai arrested in Qazvin

Author and journalist Mohammad Kimiai has been arrested, sources told the Green Voice of Freedom.

Kimiai, who has worked with a great number of reformist publications in the past, was arrested last Tuesday in the city of Qazvin by agents from Iran’s ministry of intelligence. A number of his personal belongings and documents were also confiscated after his home was searched.

The journalist’s family have been told that Kimiai is under interrogation and will be in detention until his trial date. He reportedly suffers from heart problems.

Last week, security forces raided the office of pro-reform weekly Hadise Qazvin, which Kimiai had been working with, and detained the publication’s staff including editor-in-chief Rahim Sarkar. While the staff were released after a three-hour interrogation, Sarkar is still in prison.

Source: Iran Green Voice

85 years old Baha’i prisoner banned of visit and phone call

crazydead
-
0
85 years old Baha’i prisoner banned of visit and phone call

85 years old Baha’i citizen, Mohammad Hussein Nakha’i, sentenced to 3 years in prison, is banned of visit and phone call with no reason.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Elderly Baha’i citizen, imprisoned from May 2012 in Birjand Prison, Mohammad Hussein Nakha’i, is being banned of visit and phone call by judiciary authorities with no reason.

Due to his age, Mohammad Hussein Nakha’i needs continuous medical care and from other hand, all his relatives are in Tehran. So, being banned of visit and phone call has made his family in worry and trouble.

Mohammad Husein Nakha’i, 85 years old Baha’i citizen from Birjand city was detained in May 2012 with the charges of propaganda against regime and being a member of Baha’i Community and was sentenced to 3 years in prison by local revolutionary court.

He had also passed five years in prison in Gonbad in the first decade of the Islamic Republic Regime for his faith.

Source: HRANA

Ahvaz activist Masoud Ladoni behind bars

crazydead
-
0
Ahvaz activist Masoud Ladoni behind bars

A political activist has been arrested in the southern city of Ahvaz, according to media reports.

Melli-Mazhabi, a site associated with the Patriotic-Religious movement, reported that one of its activists Masoud Ladoni was arrested at his home in Ahvaz on 5 January. Ladoni was then reportedly taken to the city’s Revolutionary Court and afterwards to Karoun Prison.

Convicted of having acted against national security through his ties to the Patriotic-Religious front, Ladoni was sentenced to two years in prison.

The Melli-Mazhabi site says that Ladoni was heavily invested in cultural and political activities in Ahvaz, all of which were within the confines of the law.

The experienced activist also spent time behind prison bars during the 1980s for his political activism. Following the 2009 presidential election, Ladoni was summoned, interrogated and detained on a number of occasions.

His wife Parvin Kahzadi also faced judicial intimidation for her activism and work in journalism. She and their only son recently left the country.

Source: Iran Green Voice

Quds Force commander secretly visits Egypt

crazydead
-
0
Quds Force commander secretly visits Egypt

The Entekhab website cites Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas that Qasem Suleimani, Commander of the Qods Force of the IRGC, secretly visited Egypt from between December 26 and 30, 2012. During this visit, Suleimani met with the Morsi’s Deputy for Foreign Affairs Dr. Issam Haddad. They discussed methods and ways to restrain the Egyptian security services and military, given that this is Suleimani’s area of expertise. According to the report, the meetings between the two were held at a well-known hotel in Cairo. Muslim Brotherhood leaders knew about the meeting and made the arrangements for Suleimani’s trip to Egypt.

Source: Iran Daily Brief

Iran said developing software to control social networking

-
0
Iran said developing software to control social networking

Police chief says technology will shield citizens from malicious online content

 Iran’s police chief says the Islamic Republic is developing new software to control social networking sites.

Gen. Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam was quoted in Iranian newspapers Saturday as saying the new software will prevent Iranians from being exposed to malicious content online while allowing users to enjoy the benefits of the Internet. He did not say when the software would be introduced.

Moghadam also did not specify which social networking sites would be affected, but both Facebook and Twitter are popular in Iran.

Iranians currently have access to most of the Internet, although authorities block some sites affiliated with the opposition, as well as those that are seen as promoting dissent or considered morally corrupt.

Iran created a government agency last year to oversee Internet usage in the country.

Source: The Associated Press

Jailed activist warns of “election coup” in the making

crazydead
-
0
Jailed activist warns of “election coup” in the making

With the next Iranian presidential election slated for June of 2013, Mostafa Tajzadeh, a jailed political activist and prominent reformist, has warned of another “election coup” being in the works.

In a letter published on the Norooz website on Friday January 4, Tajzadeh, who has been in jail since the last election in 2009, writes that the recent statements by military and other Islamic Republic officials and their renewed attacks against the challengers of the 2009 election are paving the way for “another election coup.”

The 2009 presidential election was challenged by the reformist candidates with allegations of vote fraud. The controversy led to mass protests. with protesters demanding that their votes be verified.

The result was a severe government crackdown on protesters and reformists in the political arena. Tajzadeh and many other reformist figures were arrested, accused of sedition and given harsh prison terms.

MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the two candidates that challenged Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory and refused to recognize his government, were finally put under house arrest in February of 2011 and have been cut off from the public ever since.

With the approach of the presidential election, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the head of the Guardian Council, the hardline cleric Ayatollah Jannati, have once again condemned the 2009 protests and linked them to Western conspiracies.

Tajzadeh writes: “Mesbah, Jannati, and the head of IRGC have once again become active…this means another election coup is on the way.”

Tajzadeh insists that the 2009 election turned into a military coup and, therefore, he calls for the prosecution of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Tajzadeh goes on to criticize Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, saying he has turned himself into an “absolute monarch” and is responsible for all the current problems in the country.

He writes: “If our country in comparison with the countries in the region and the world is in excellent condition, then we should thank the leader! If the situation is bad, the leader has to face the chief criticism because he is in direct charge of 70 percent of the affairs in the country, and the other 30 percent he influences indirectly.”

Tajzadeh was deputy interior minister in the reformist government of President Mohammad Khatami and an executive member of two top reformist parties, the Islamic Iran Participation Front and Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Party, both of which have been outlawed since the 2009 election protests.

Source: Radiozamaneh

Younes Aghayan on Hunger Strike in Solitary Confinement

crazydead
-
0
Younes Aghayan on Hunger Strike in Solitary Confinement

Younes Aghayan, ethnic prisoner sentenced to death who was transferred from Mahabad prison to solitary confinement in Urmia prison on Wednesday, December 26, 2012, is on hunger strike from that day.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Younes Aghayan, a follower of the Yari faith (Ahl-e Haq), ethnic prisoner who is sentenced to death, was transferred from Mahabad prison to solitary confinement in Urmia prison. He is on hunger strike from the day he was transferred to solitary confinement. There is fear of his execution.

Younes Aghayan is a follower of the Yari faith (Ahl-e Haq) from the village of Ooch Tappeh, near Miandoab. In October 2004, police raided Ooch Tappeh village to remove signs with religious writings of Yari faith. When villagers resisted the raid and confronted the police, Younes Aghayan, 21, and another Yari faith follower by the name of Mehdi Ghassemzadeh (Aghayan’s uncle) were arrested. In January 2005, the two men were put on trial by Branch Two of Mahabad Revolutionary Court, and were sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “carrying ammunition and arms,” and to death on charges of “armed resistence against the Islamic Republic of Iran.” After the Supreme Court confirmed the sentences, Mehdi Ghassemzadeh was executed in 2008, and Younes Aghayan has remained on death row inside Orumiyeh Prison since then. Mehdi Ghassemzadeh was executed without the knowledge of his family and his court-appointed lawyer, and according to the source, his body was never returned to his family for burial.

Source: Hrana

1...391392393...704Page 392 of 704