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Iran Steps Up Crackdown On Journalists

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Iran Steps Up Crackdown On Journalists

By Alex Johnston

Iran has stepped up efforts to harass journalists and media companies in the past several weeks, Reporters Without Borders says.

Cartoonist Mahmud Shokraieh, who drew a caricature portraying a local member of parliament as a soccer player, was sentenced to 25 lashes. “The court ruled that Shokraieh had ‘insulted’ the parliamentarian, who sued both him and the newspaper’s editor. The editor was acquitted,” according to the media watchdog.

Cartoonist Martin Rowson of The Guardian called Shokraieh’s sentence “outrageous, appalling and barbaric.”

“The surest mark of a healthy society is the degree to which public figures accept the right of everyone else to laugh at them, something which cartoonists and caricaturists have helped enable for centuries,” Rowson wrote.

The cartoon depicts the member of parliament, Lotfi Ashtiani, dressed as a soccer player in a stadium. He has an enlarged forehead with a smudge in the middle, which is supposed to be a sign that he has prayed frequently.

“Ashtiani’s response to [Mahmud Shokraieh]‘s cartoon of him is a far greater indictment of him and his character than any cartoon could ever be,” Rowson added.

On Wednesday, Mahssa Amrabadi, the wife of imprisoned journalist Masoud Bastani, was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison “for giving interviews and writing articles in support of her husband and demanding his release,” Reporters Without Borders said.

Another journalist, Reza Ansari Rad, who works for pro-reform media, was summoned to serve a one year jail term last week for “anti-government propaganda,” the watchdog said.

Many of these journalists are “being subjected to inhuman and degrading conditions and denied their most basic rights,” it added.

 Source: freedomessenger

Trade Unionist Given Six-Year Prison Sentence: Reza Shahabi

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Trade Unionist Given Six-Year Prison Sentence: Reza Shahabi

Iranian trade unionist Reza Shahabi has been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment on vaguely worded charges. He is in poor health, and it is not clear whether he is receiving all necessary medical treatment. Another trade unionist is missing after being arrested.

 Source: amnesty

Journalist Mahsa Amrabadi summoned to serve out jail term

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Journalist Mahsa Amrabadi summoned to serve out jail term

Iranian journalist Mahsa Amrabadi has been summoned to serve out a one-year prison term.

She was summoned to the notorious Evin Prison on Tuesday, sources told the Green Voice of Freedom.

In October 2010, a Tehran Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Moghiseh sentenced Amrabadi to a year in prison on “propaganda” charges related to her “interviews and journalistic reports.” She later received an additional one-year jail sentence and a four-year suspended term on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security.”

She is the wife of imprisoned journalist Masoud Bastani. The couple were arrested in the aftermath of the widely disputed 2009 presidential election. While Amrabadi was released after spending more than two months in prison, her husband has not yet been granted furlough since his arrest in July 2009. He is currently serving a six-year jail term in Rejaee Shahr prison in the city of Karaj.

Amrabadi was detained once again on 1 March 2011 while protesting the house arrest of Green Movement leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi. She was released a few weeks later.

In an interview with opposition site Kaleme, Amrabadi’s mother Maryam Naghi called on the authorities to bring an end to the imprisonment of dissidents. She also urged the judiciary to transfer her daughter and son-in-law to the same detention centre so as to ease the family’s suffering. “It’s quite hard for us to have to go to Evin and Rajaee Shahr prisons every week to see our loved ones. The least they could do is to hold them at the same prison. It would make it easier [for us] to visit them.”

Authorities have also summoned Green Movement supporter Omid Kharazmian to serve a four-year prison sentence at Evin. Kharazmian, a hotel employee, was arrested at his home on 8 February 2010 after having attended opposition protests in late December 2009.

According to a post on his Facebook page, he was obligated to present himself to prison authorities on 24 April.

 Source: irangreenvoice

Foreign email prohibited in Iran

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Foreign email prohibited in Iran

Iran’s Minister of Communications and Technology has announced a ban on the use of foreign email services such as Yahoo and Gmail in order to “protect information security.”

The Mehr News Agency reports that Minister Reza Taghipour released a letter addressed to Mohammad Karampour, the head of the Radio Communications and Regulations Organization, saying that public emails are “tools of transferring information out of the country.” Therefore, foreign email hosts such as Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail and MSN are now forbidden for use in Iran.

The list of domestic email service providers should be posted and kept up to date for public use, the minister writes.

According to the minister, all government offices, private sector companies, universities and higher education organizations can use domestic email.

Heydar Moslehi, Iran’s Intelligence Minister, has expressed concern over the spread of social networking sites on the internet, calling it a “new threat” against the Islamic Republic.

Iranian officials have also claimed that Yahoo and Gmail control the emails of their users and collect private information.

Iran is also developing a national internet aimed protecting the transfer of information and “cleansing” inappropriate content.

 Source: radiozamaneh

Iran suspected of clean-up operation at nuclear site

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Iran suspected of clean-up operation at nuclear site

By Jon Swaine

Iran may have carried out a clean-up operation at a building suspected of being used for nuclear weapons experiments within a key military facility, experts warned last night.

New satellite photographs appear to show that unusual activity has taken place in recent weeks at the Parchin site outside Tehran, according to the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS).

A large stream of water pictured flowing from the building, said to feature an “explosive chamber” for testing, “raises concerns that Iran may have been washing inside the building”, according to the group.

A series of unidentified items were also shown lined up outside the building in the April 9 photographs. Pictures taken in March and in July 2011 showed neither, suggesting unusual recent developments.

David Albright, ISIS’s founder, said its finding backed up concerns at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has been denied access to the site since 2005, over recent “activity” there.

“Iran should immediately allow IAEA inspectors into the Parchin site and allow access to this specific building,” said Mr Albright, a former inspector. “It should also explain the purpose of the activities”.

Former Regime Supporter: ‘We Have Murdered People’

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Former Regime Supporter: ‘We Have Murdered People’

“To preserve power, we have committed so many crimes and we have lost so much.”

Mohammad Noorizad is a well-known Iranian journalist and documentary filmmaker. Born on December 10, 1953, in a village near Tehran, he received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology. He also has an art degree that is said to be equivalent to a Ph.D. In 1980, he started making documentary films for Jahaad-e Saazandegi (Reconstruction Jihad). During the administration of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), Noorizad, then writing for the hardline newspaper Kayhan, was one of the reformist president’s harshest critics and an ardent supporter of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. After the presidential election of June 2009, however, Noorizad joined the opposition. After writing several strongly critical public letters to the Supreme Leader, Noorizad was arrested on December 20, 2009. At the end of a show trial, he was sentenced to one year of prison for “propaganda against the political system and destroying its thirty-year image,” two years for insulting Khamenei, 91 days each for insulting judiciary chief Sadegh Larijani and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and 50 lashes for insulting Mashhad Friday Prayer Imam Ahmad Elmolhoda. His family was told that he would be punished until “his thoughts are controlled.” Noorizad said that he was informed that he would be given a pardon if he wrote a letter to Khamenei pleading for one, which he refused to do.

While in Evin Prison, on April 17, 2010, Noorizad was taken outside “to have some fresh air” and beaten savagely, resulting in a concussion and damage to his eyesight. He was held in solitary confinement for 70 days. After 190 days of incarceration, he was allowed to post bail and released. Noorizad called Evin a “second Kahrizak,” a reference to the notorious detention center on the southern edge of Tehran in which at least five young demonstrators were tortured to death in the aftermath of the 2009 election.

Noorizad has recently produced a short film, We Have Murdered People. The movie begins with him saying,

“We must believe that we have failed the 33-year test of the Islamic Revolution and the implementation of the promises that we made to the people. This is a fact, albeit bitter. Our bankruptcy began quite sometime ago, as has the time for saying goodbye, goodbye to the Islamic justice that the Revolution promised. So long, human rights that the Revolution promised to the people of Iran and the world. So long, the fallen ideals of the Revolution. We have demonstrated that the religious people and the clerics can lie if they come to power, that they can turn their backs on all the promises that they made, that they can embrace the world[‘s materialism], despite once speaking against it in the past, that they can oppress, they can loot, they can murder people.”

Then Noorizad sings:

“We, in the name of love for the political system, murdered people and looted.”

He continues,

“We are the failed people in this 33-year-long test. When, in our Islamic system of government, girls become prostitutes at 12 or 13, I am embarrassed. Speaking about enriching uranium is not only not a [point of] national pride, it is idiotic. We lied, we lied, we deceived, we looted, we committed murder, we murdered people, murdered people, murdered people. We must accept our defeat. And to preserve the residual belief that the people may have in Islam we must accept that we [the ruling system] represent only one choice among other choices. We must believe in the people and recognize their various [ways of] thinking. We cannot just insist on our own beliefs and not see [recognize] the Sunnis, the Baha’is, our own communists. We have failed this test. If we still have the zeal to safeguard our religion, we must put ourselves alongside other schools of thought and political tendencies and become merely one among them. We cannot make decisions for others. We are not allowed to restrict other thoughts in the name of being Muslim. Just as we want open [political and social] space for ourselves, we must, according to the same religious teachings, provide the same for other teachings.”

He sings again:

“To preserve power, we have committed so many crimes and we have lost so much. To keep people uninformed, we have set up so many impediments, we have become tired breath. For our own survival, we have mixed ourselves with corruption, have spilled people’s blood. In the name of preserving Islam, we have committed murder and looting, and dishonored many.”

Staring into the camera, Noorizad then ends the movie by declaring,

“We lied, we lied, we lied, we looted, we murdered people, murdered people. We murdered people.”

Source: pbs

Detention Extended for Gonabadi Dervish Just Before Release

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Detention Extended for Gonabadi Dervish Just Before Release

Just prior to his release, Kasra Nouri, a member of the Gonabadi Dervish order, was ordered to remain in prison, his mother, Shokoofeh Yadollahi told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

“Following the efforts of the lawyer and the family, Kasra was supposed to have been released last week, but, unfortunately, on orders from the investigative judge in charge of Kasra’s file, his detention orders have been extended,” Yadollahi told the Campaign. “I hope he is released soon, as my son does not deserve to be detained. He is just a Dervish and should not be detained for being a Dervish or for interviewing with a news outlet,” she added.

On 14 March 2012, Kasra Nouri was arrested on the charges of “propagating against the regime in favor of foreigners” and “contact and interview with Radio Farda.”

Yadollahi explained to the Campaign that her son has faced bad prison conditions, particularly the two weeks he spent inside the Quarantine Ward of Shiraz Central Prison: “This detention center has tragic conditions and its inmates are exposed to the worst hygienic circumstances. The inhumane treatment by authorities and interrogators, accompanied with torture, is against laws for citizens’ rights.”

Nouri had also spent some time in the Detention Center of the Shiraz Intelligence Office, unbeknownst to his family. “After several days of no information about the detention location of my son and a search by his family and lawyer, it turned out that Kasra had been transferred to the Shiraz Intelligence Office’s Detention Center, known as No. 100. After multiple attempts, we were able to visit with him on Tuesday, 11 April, a whole month after his arrest,” said Shokoofeh Yadollahi.

Nouri’s mother added that her son had previously been arrested on 11 January 2012 on the charges of “acting against the regime” and “membership in a deviant group.” After spending 46 days inside the Shiraz Intelligence Office and Adel Abad Prison, he was released on a $50,000 bail.

Judicial authorities have cracked down on the Gonabadi Dervish order, resulting in hundreds of arrests last year. On 3 May, a trial for 189 Gonabadi Dervishes began at Branch 104 of the Boroujerd General Criminal Court in Lorestan Province. The Dervishes on trial face charges of “acting against national security” and “creating public anxiety through assembly and issuing petitions and statements.”

The trial is expected to last ten days. Several Dervishes under trial at this court have not received summonses yet. According to the lawyers representing the Dervishes, considering the court hours and the number of individuals under trial, it is expected that during each day of the trial, the cases of 18 to 20 individuals are reviewed.

Some of the lawyers representing the 189 Dervishes include Gholamreza Hersini, Ehsanollah Heydari, Saeed Gholamian, and Maryam Moshfegh, along with 17 other lawyers.

Kasra Nouri’s mother told the Campaign that government officials have also harassed her family: “Last week, Kasra’s 16-year old brother Amir Nouri was interrogated for five hours inside Intelligence Office’s Detention Center, known as No. 100. We remain under pressure during our visits and [the authorities] do not treat us properly.”

 Source: iranhumanrights

South Korean Nuclear Inspector Killed In Iran Car Accident

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South Korean Nuclear Inspector Killed In Iran Car Accident

South Korean nuclear inspector working with the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) has been killed in a car accident in Iran.

The IAEA said in a statement that it was in touch with the inspectors’ families and Iranian authorities.

The IAEA did not name the inspector killed in the crash, but Iran’s official IRNA news agency identified him as Seo Ok-Seok from South Korea.

His colleague, who reports say is from Slovakia was wounded in the accident, which took place near a reactor site in central Iran.

A statement by Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) said the two IAEA experts were on a mission “in the vicinity of Khandab Complex in the Markazi province when the accident happened.”

It said that the car carrying the two “skidded and overturned” on May 7.

The accident is likely to be subject to intense scrutiny.

The IAEA inspectors have been monitoring Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Source: rferl


Video Shows Afghans Confessing To Spying For Iran

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Video Shows Afghans Confessing To Spying For Iran

 

Watch: Two Afghan men seemingly confess to spying for Iran and attempting to carry out terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.Afghan authorities have reportedly arrested two men on charges of spying for Iran and attempting to carry out terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.

In a video recording obtained by RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan from an unnamed intelligence source, the two — Syed Kamal and Syed Hussain — both Afghan citizens, confess to the charges.

RFE/RL cannot independently verify the claims made in the video or the circumstances under which the video was recorded.

In the recording, both men say they were part of Sipah-i-Mohammad, a group of Afghan refugees who had received training by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

The men said members of the group were sent back to Afghanistan to carry out attacks and gather intelligence.

Kamal, who was sent back to Afghanistan in 2000, said the group was equipped with weapons from an Iranian arms factory run by the Revolutionary Guards.

The video recording shows Kamal brandishing several weapons, including a remote-controlled detonator, which he says can detonate “10 to 20 bombs simultaneously in different locations” from several kilometers away.

‘Recruiting Very Actively’

Kamal claims that Revolutionary Guards were recruiting militants from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon, and training them in camps around Iran, including sites in the cities of Mashad, Zahidan, and even some areas of Tehran.

“Currently, the [Revolutionary Guards] are recruiting very actively,” he says. “They are working intensively with all different groups. They want to rejuvenate the Hezb-i-Islami and they are recruiting forces for them. They’re also training Taliban fighters in different locations.”

Hussain, the other detainee, said that the Revolutionary Guards told the Afghan group members that the United States was their enemy and that they should strive to drive them out of the country.

Hussain, who says he was in Afghanistan mainly gathering intelligence and working as a courier, appeared to confess that he was part of a group attempting to plant a roadside bomb in Kabul.

He said the plan ultimately failed as the two remote-controlled bombs they had planted were defused by Afghan security forces before they could be detonated.

Abdolvahed Hakimi, Kabul bureau chief for the Iranian Fars news agency

The arrest of Kamal and Hussain comes after reports that Afghan authorities had arrested another Afghan man on charges of spying for Iran.

Abdolvahed Hakimi, Kabul bureau chief for Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, was detained by Afghan intelligence for disclosing government secrets to Iran.

Fars confirmed that Hakimi was arrested on May 5 and taken to an unknown location.

The agency quotes Hakimi’s wife as saying that her husband had made a brief telephone call on the night of May 5 to inform his family of his arrest by the Afghan National Security Office.

Fars said the arrest could be due to a “misunderstanding” on the part of Afghan security bodies.

Source: rferl

Ten prisoners were executed in Iran

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Ten prisoners were executed in Iran

Ten prisoners were executed in Iran reported Iranian state media today.

Nine prisoners executed in Tehran today:

According to the state run Iranian news agency Fars, nine prisoners were hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison today.

Seven of the prisoners were convicted of planning to send a container with 500 kilograms of “Shisheh” to a Southeast Asian country, said the report. The prisoners were identified as Reza Golshani, Abolfazl Norouzi, Majid Heydarkhani, Majid Doosti, Majid Mandehi, Ali Alaeiand Babak Paravarzar, according to the report.

The two other prisoners who were hanged in Tehran today were two brothers by the names Bahman and Behzad Nabavi. They were convicted of synthesizing and keeping 212 kilos and 610 grams of Shisheh, said the report.

One prisoner was hanged in the prison of Tabriz (North-eastern Iran):

According to the state run Iranian news agency Fars, a man convicted of sexually abusing several minor girls was hanged in the prison of Tabriz (North-eastern Iran). The man was not identified by name. The news of his execution was published by the state run Iranian media today. However, according to Iran Human Rights’ sources the execution took place on Wednesday May 3.

Source : Iran Human Rights

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