Iran’s “Blogfather” Begins His Trial…One Year Later
Iranian-Canadian bloggerm Hossein Derakhshan, who is known as the "Blogfather"
More than a year and a half after he was arrested in Tehran, Hossein Derakhshan, an influential Iranian-Canadian blogger also known as Hoder, was put on trial on Wednesday, according to Iranian news reports and statements by his family posted online.
According to Golnaz Esfandiari, who blogs for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the American-financed news organization:
Iran’s hard-line Fars news agency reports that the trial of controversial blogger Hossein Derakhshan, known as Iran’s “Blogfather” for helping to popularize blogging in the Islamic republic, began in Tehran on June 23.
As The Lede explained in a May 2009 post on Mr. Derakhshan’s case, he was arrested in November 2008, just weeks after he had returned to Iran after living for eight years in Canada and Britain.
Mr. Derakhshan had moved to Canada in 2000, Wired magazine explained, “after conservative judicial authorities shut down Asr-e Azadegan, the reformist newspaper where he was a daily tech columnist.” As Wired noted, it was while he was living in Toronto in 2001 that he “figured out a way to combine Unicode and Blogger.com’s free tools to handle Persian characters.” This technical advance meant that “Suddenly, blogging in Persian was as simple as it is in English.” In 2003, The Guardian wrote that Mr. Derakhshan’s “step-by-step guide to creating a Persian weblog should take much of the credit for inspiring thousands of Iranians to start their own blogs.”
In 2006, Mr. Derakhshan blogged about his trip to Israel, on both his Persian blog and his English blog.
For months after his arrest, little was known of Mr. Derakhshan’s fate, until Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter to Tehran’s chief prosecutor in April 2009, asking that Roxana Saberi, an Iranian-American charged with spying for the United States, be given an opportunity to present a full defense. In Mr. Ahmadinejad’s letter, he also requested the same treatment for Mr. Derakhshan, who had been reportedly charged with spying for Israel.
Ms. Esfandiari noted on Thursday:
According to Fars, the charges against Derakhshan include working with “hostile” governments, propaganda against the Islamic establishment, propaganda in favor of antirevolutionary groups, insulting religious sanctities, and launching and managing “obscene” websites.
Writing on the recently launched Justice For Hossein Derakhshan blog, Derakhshan’s sister says her parents were not allowed in the courtroom during the June 23 trial session, during which Fars says Derakhshan’s indictment was read.
Cyrus Farivar, an Iranian-American journalist and blogger, pointed out that the start of Mr. Derakhshan’s trial was also reported on the Web site of an Iranian human rights group. Mr. Farivar added:
Very little new information has been released beyond this fact, although I managed to get this quote via email from an source close to Derakhshan’s family:
“One trial session was held and although no family members were allowed in, but the family remains optimistic that no serious issues exist in his case. Plus, considering the fact that he has already served a long time in prison, most of which has been in solitary confinement, the family doesn’t expect a longer jail sentence. There are more court sessions to be held before the final verdict is out.”
In news related to another case before Iran’s judiciary, The Nation on Thursday published an article by an Iranian journalist who reported that two people who witnessed the arrest of three American hikers by Iranian forces last July said that they “were on Iraqi territory when they were arrested—not in Iran, as Iranian officials have asserted. Two additional sources report that the Revolutionary Guards officer who likely ordered their detention has since been arrested on charges of smuggling, kidnapping and murder.”
Read the Original Article By Robert Mackey HERE.
Iranian Government to Arrest “Suntanned” Women in Violation of Islamic Dress Code & Rules
A leading cleric, warned that women who dressed immodestly disturbed young men and the consequent agitation caused earthquakes Photo: SIPA/REX FEATURES
Iran has warned suntanned women and girls who looked like “walking mannequins” will be arrested as part of a new drive to enforce the Islamic dress code.
Brig Hossien Sajedinia, Tehran’s police chief, said a national crackdown on opposition sympathisers would be extended to women who have been deemed to be violating the spirit of Islamic laws. He said: “The public expects us to act firmly and swiftly if we see any social misbehaviour by women, and men, who defy our Islamic values. In some areas of north Tehran we can see many suntanned women and young girls who look like walking mannequins.
“We are not going to tolerate this situation and will first warn those found in this manner and then arrest and imprison them.”
Iran’s Islamic leadership has in recent weeks launched a scaremongering campaign to persuade the population that vice is sweeping the streets of the capital. National law stipulates that women wear headscarves and shape shrouding cloaks but many women, particularly in the capital, spend heavily on fashions that barely adhere to the regulations.
The announcement came shortly after Ayatollah Kazim Sadighi, a leading cleric, warned that women who dressed immodestly disturbed young men and the consequent agitation caused earthquakes.
Another preacher warned Tehran’s citizens to flee before the inevitable punishment for flagrant behaviour was visited on the city.
“Go on the streets and repent for your sins,” Ayatollah Aziz Khoshvaqt, one of the country’s highest clerics, told worshippers during a recent sermon in northern Tehran. “A holy torment is upon us. Leave town.”
Bail Set at $30,000 for Ardavan Tarakameh
-50 days after his was arrested, author and film critic, Ardavan Tarakameh’s family announced that he has been granted release on $30,000 bail. Ardavan’s sister, Bahar, remains in prison.
According to CHRR, Ardavan, whose father, Yunes Tarakameh is one of Iran’s most prominent authors, was arrested on December 27th, 2009 at Mahin Fahimi’s house along with his host and a number of other guests. Mahin Fahimi is a member of the Mothers for Peace. The agents then, accompanied Tarakameh to his house and seized his computer and other items after searching the house.
Tarakameh’s sister, Bahar, was arrested on February 5th, 2010 and is currently detained at Evin Prison. She was among the group of 70 authors, poets, translators and journalists who asked for Ardavan’s release in a letter addressed to the head of the Judiciary.
Source: RAHANA
Iran Crushes Opposition Protests With Violence
Iran’s regime thwarted the opposition’s hopes of turning the 31st anniversary celebrations of the Islamic revolution into another massive protest today.
It out-manoeuvred the so-called Green movement by swamping the official proceedings with huge numbers of its own supporters, preventing the media from covering anything else and blanketing the rest of the capital with security forces who forcefully suppressed the opposition’s relatively muted demonstrations.
President Ahmadinejad also sought to grab the headlines and divert attention from the protests by announcing that Iran had produced its first stock of 20 per cent-enriched uranium. He declared that Iran was now a “nuclear state”.
Opposition websites claimed a young woman named Leila Zareii, was killed and many others were wounded or arrested. The opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi and Mohammed Khatami – a former president – were attacked, as was Zahra Rahnavard, wife of the Green Movement’s other leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Even Zahra Eshraghi, granddaughter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the 1979 revolution, was briefly arrested. She and her brother, Hassan, are both opposition sympathisers and she is married to Mr Khatami’s brother.
“It’s pretty clear that Greens everywhere will feel demoralised… The overall feeling is one of disappointment,” one well-placed source in Tehran told The Times last night. “The opposition miscalculated,” said another.
The regime was determined to prevent the so-called Green Movement from hijacking the biggest day in Iran’s calendar and largely succeeded.
It filled Azadi Square with tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters for the main event – Mr Ahmadinejad’s speech which was broadcast live on state television. Opposition websites posted pictures of the fleets of buses that had brought in the huge crowd and said it was given free food and drinks.
Most foreign journalists are banned from Iran. Those that remain, and their Iranian counterparts, were bussed to and from Azadi Square and barred from reporting on anything else, meaning only the patchiest information emerged from the rest of the city.
Opposition websites said Revolutionary Guards and basiji militiamen were stationed everywhere and that they moved swiftly and violently to break up opposition demonstrations.
They claimed the security forces used live ammunition, knives, teargas and paintballs that would enable them to identify protesters later and that they were beating and arresting women as well as men. They were backed up by water canon, new Chinese anti-riot vehicles and helicopters. Some, wearing plain clothes, infiltrated the protesters. The mobile telephone, internet and text messaging systems were seriously disrupted.
Mr Karroubi’s son, Hussein, said his father had to get out of his car and walk towards Sadeghieh Square, where thousands of supporters had gathered, because the roads were blocked. He was joined by other protestors, but they found their way blocked by plainclothes security forces who attacked them with knives, batons and tear gas.
Mr Karroubi’s bodyguards had to bundle him into a passing car which managed to drive him away, but not before the security forces smashed its windscreen. One of the bodyguards was seriously injured. Mr Karroubi’s other son, Ali, was arrested.
Film clips taken with mobile telephones showed opposition supporters chanting “Death to the dictator” on streets and in subway trains and ripping down a poster of Ayatollah Khomeini. Unrest was also reported in Shiraz, Isfahan, Mashad and other Iranian cities, but it was impossible to verify the reports.
It was also impossible to calculate how many opposition supporters turned out as their demonstrations were scattered. However the numbers appeared to be significantly smaller than on December 27, the holy day of Ashura, even though the Green movement’s three leaders had, unusually, urged their supporters to protest.
One protester insisted the opposition had come out in significant numbers, but “the problem was that we were not able to gather in one place because (the security forces) were very violent”.
Another said: “It means they won and we lost. They defeated us. They were able to gather so many people. But this doesn’t mean we have been defeated for good. It’s a defeat for now, today. We need time to regroup.”
Major General Gholam-Ali Rashid, deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, was quoted as saying: “The massive turnout of the nation shocked the central command of the arrogant front, including the US, England and the Zionist regime.”
Source: TIMESONLINE
Preparing For 1979 Anniversary: Internet Disruption & New Dumpsters
Iran observers say you can tell the Islamic republic is getting ready for more street protests when the Internet is disrupted and the text-messaging system is down. And dozens of activists and intellectuals are being arrested preemptively.
And that’s what has been going on in Iran recently, ahead of one of the most important dates of the Islamic republic — the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Internet disruption is reportedly so bad that even a television moderator complained about it during a live program on the state-controlled broadcaster. The moderator, who said that since last Monday the Internet has been down in Iran, seemed to be questioning the officially stated reason for the disruption.
Iran’s communications minister, Reza Taghipour, has said that the reason for the reduced Internet speed in recent days is the damaging of an undersea optic-fiber cable across the Persian Gulf between the Iranian port of Jask and Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates due to shipping traffic and anchoring.
The Internet in Iran — just a temporary outage?
“I don’t understand why our Internet cables are just lying in the Persian Gulf and whoever is around kicks them, cuts them, and goes away,” the television moderator said, adding that “this is what we imagine from the statement by the Telecommunications Ministry.”
On Sunday, Taghipour said Internet connections will remain slow this week and that the breakage will be repaired by next week and that Internet speed will be back to normal.
Cleaning The Streets
Other measures also being reported that are apparently aimed at preventing protests by the opposition include warnings to opposition members not to take to the streets on February 11, and new trash dumpsters.
A video has been posted on opposition websites that shows how in central Tehran plastic dumpsters are being replaced by tougher metal ones. During the street protests of recent months, protesters were seen setting dumpsters on fire and using them as shields between themselves and security forces.
The replacement of the dumpsters could be an attempt to counter street protests and prevent protesters from setting them on fire.
Another video posted on opposition websites shows loudspeakers being installed on Vali Street, where demonstrations are expected, apparently in order to dampen the voices of the opposition protesters.
The government is also reportedly deploying over 10 000 security forces to confront opposition activists.
Threats And Warnings
Since last week dozens of student activists and journalists have been arrested in what seems to be a move to create fear among the people and prevent antigovernment protests.
Can the security forces now see through protesters’ masks?
On February 7, the head of Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Hamedani, warned that the Basij militia forces will not allow any group “to confiscate” the February 11 state demonstration for the anniversary of the 1979 revolution.
Last week the commander of the police forces, Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam, also warned “lawbreakers” and said that the police will confront anyone threatening national security, crossing red lines, and insulting that which is sacred.
Hard-line blogs have also been issuing warning to the Green opposition movement.
Here, a revolution anniversary poster on a hard-line blog that seem to warn the opposition that it will be crushed. “On February 11 we will be waiting for you,” it says, adding that the “Iranian nation” will deal with “the rioters” in the streets.
Citing “reliable sources,” another blog reported that government programmers have designed a new computer program that allows the identification of the faces of people who attempt to hide them with masks, as some opposition protesters have done during the street protests.
The blog claims that modern cameras that have entered Iran “suspiciously” and are being distributed among the Basij forces, who plan to use them on February 11.
Meanwhile, the hard-line Fars news agency reported today that a petition with 1 million signatures calling for the arrest and trial of the leaders of the “sedition” was delivered to judiciary officials. The move seem to be part of measures aimed at creating fear among Green movement supporters.
Despite all the threats, warnings, and ongoing crackdown members of the opposition have vowed to take to the streets on February 11.
Last week, opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi said defiantly that the 1979 revolution has failed to achieve most of its goals, including eradicating the “roots of tyranny and dictatorship.” Musavi also said that “rallies and nonviolent demonstrations” are the people’s right and that the Green movement will not abandon its peaceful struggle.
– Golnaz Esfandiari
Source: RFE/RL
IRAN: 3 million protesters anticipated at Thursday rally
The 22nd day of the Persian calendar month of Bahman, the date 31 years ago when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared Iran an Islamic republic, is traditionally a time for official patriotic fervor and the unveiling of national achievements.
But on Sunday, a source inside Tehran police headquarters told a friend of the Los Angeles Times in Iran that security forces expect as many as 3 million anti-government protesters to descend on the center of the capital during the holiday, which falls on Thursday this year, after loud calls by opposition leaders to take the streets.
The government is also expected to be prepared, deploying about 12,000 baton-wielding Basiji militiamen from outside the capital and legions of supporters bused in from around the country.
“The government managed to collect and gather around 500,000 supporters,” the friend of the newspaper said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “This number is very real. All of their efforts have amounted to 500,000.”
Official warnings and acts of defiance, including a protest at a Tehran university (above), continued to ratchet up tensions in Iran ahead of the anniversary.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a televised address to the air force, insisted Iran would demonstrate unity and “give all arrogant powers a punch in the mouth” on Thursday. He issued a stern warning to those who continue to oppose the June reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, describing them as agents of the deposed monarchy
“It is now completely known that those who stood against the Iranian nation’s choice in the election don’t belong to this nation,” he said. “They are either counterrevolutionary or are following in the steps of counterrevolutionaries out of ignorance and obstinacy.”
On the streets, officials continue to prepare for the holiday, setting up loudspeakers along the traditional march route (see video below) to drown out opposition slogans. Police chief Gen. Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam said security forces would team up with plainclothes pro-government Basiji militiamen and fan out across the city to “neutralize all conspiracies of the enemies.”
His deputy, Gen. Ahmad-Reza Radan, predicted the holiday “will mark the burial of sedition.”
“Police will not tolerate any unofficial slogan or symbol,” he said.
Meanwhile, officials also stepped up pressure on the leaders of the opposition. The armed forces general staff issued a statement carried by the website of the Revolutionary Guard accusing opposition leaders of fomenting continued unrest. “In case they stick to their positions, they will inevitably meet the same difficult fate as their predecessors who stood against the supreme leader,” it said.
A group of hard-line lawmakers, who came to office after careful vetting by the unelected jurists of the equally hard-line Guardian Council, warned opposition leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi that the 22nd of Bahman was their “last chance” before unspecified consequences.
An Iranian court sentenced Mohsen Aminzadeh, the reformist former deputy foreign minister, to six years in prison on charges of organizing protests, disturbing the country’s security and propagandizing against the system by giving interviews to international news outlets, his lawyer told the Iranian Students News Agency.
Still, opposition groups and figures continued their calls for supporters of the “green movement,” the nickname given to the opposition, to head into the streets.
Former President Mohammad Khatami called Thursday a potential turning point in the history of Iran. “God willing, all Iranians will attend the 22 Bahman rally in a bid to show support for the revolution and people’s rights,” he said in a meeting with reporters of the Iranian Labor News Agency, according to the website of his foundation, Baran.org.ir.
“Those who groundlessly accuse protesters of subversion are voluntarily or involuntarily derailing the revolution from its correct track, and they call into question the principles of the revolution,” he said. “Now tell me whether those who protest to deviation from the principles are subversive, or those who utter baseless accusations against people and the revolutionary forces?”
Human Rights Commitee Calls Iranian Government’s Crackdown a DISASTER
Iran’s crackdown on opposition protests following June’s disputed presidential election was a “human rights disaster,” U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said.
The rights group also said in a report that Iran has staged hundreds of show trials of detained opposition protesters.
Iran has dismissed previous criticisms of its human rights record. It has said that the opposition protests were illegal and have been orchestrated by foreign powers including the United States and Britain to undermine the Islamic Republic.
Iran witnessed its worst internal strife since the Islamic revolution in 1979 when supporters of opposition candidates who lost to hardline President Mahmud Ahmadinejad took to the streets, leading to violent clashes with security forces.
Thousands were detained. Most have been freed but more than 80 were jailed for up to 15 years and five were sentenced to death.
The Human Rights Watch report said the post-election crackdown had turned into “a human rights disaster.”
“The Iranian judiciary’s show trials of hundreds of demonstrators and dissidents ranks among the most absurd displays of prosecutorial abuse I have witnessed in recent memory,” HRW’s Middle East Director Joe Stork said at a news conference in Dubai to announce its annual report.
The Human Rights Watch report said many of the detainees had been coerced to confess to vaguely-worded crimes during the trials. Researcher Faraq Sanei said Human Rights Watch had documented 26 such cases of torture or coerced confessions.
Human Rights Watch is shunned by the government and Stork said repeated visa requests had been unsuccessful.
The report said the Iranian government had also targeted the media since the election as well as workers demanding rights.
“Since 2006, authorities have responded harshly to workers, teachers, and women’s rights groups who advocate for better working conditions, better wages, benefits, and demands for changes in discriminatory laws,” it said.
“In 2009 the authorities arrested union leaders, women activists, and suppressed gatherings of teachers and workers.”
Iran has banned Iranians from contacting 60 organisations including the BBC, Human Rights Watch and U.S.-funded broadcasters that Tehran says are suspected of being involved in Western efforts to topple the clerical establishment.
The authorities have signalled they will tolerate no more protests after eight people, including a nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi, were killed in fiery demonstrations in December during the Shi’ite ritual of Ashura.
Source: RFE/RL
Iran Tightens Watch On Cell Phone & E-Mail Use
Iran’s police chief on Friday warned opposition supporters not to use cell phones and e-mail messages to organize protest rallies against the government, saying those who do so will be prosecuted and punished.
Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam said spreading the word of the opposition through Internet or cell phone SMS is a crime that deserves severe punishment and that the authorities would continue monitoring those systems.
The remarks are the latest reflecting the government’s frustration at various imaginative ways the opposition has sought to rally supporters following the disputed June presidential election.
A harsh government crackdown has left the opposition with little means to make its voice heard. Almost all pro-reform newspapers have been closed since the June 12 vote in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner. Those still in circulation have been openly threatened against publishing opposition statements. Iranian state media, controlled by hard-liners, regularly ignore the opposition.
Pro-reform Web sites are also blocked, making it difficult for statements, such as those of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, to be seen by the wider public.
However, Iran’s tech-savvy and mostly young opposition activists have turned to cell phone SMS and e-mails as a potent weapon in organizing anti-government rallies. In response, cell phone service is regularly blocked during opposition demonstrations – but often, not before the message gets out.
“These people must know when they send the SMS messages or e-mails out, these systems are completely under (our) control,” Moghaddam was quoted as saying by the semiofficial ISNA news agency. “These individuals should not assume … they can hide their identities. That is a wishful thinking.”
Moghaddam added that those who continue to use cell phones and e-mails in service of the opposition would be punished. “Those involved in organizing or issuing appeals have committed a worse crime than those who take to the streets,” he said.
The opposition says more than 80 protesters have been killed in the postelection crackdown, although the government puts the number of confirmed dead at less than 40. At least eight people died in clashes between security forces and opposition protesters in late December, the worst bloodshed since the height of the unrest last summer.
In the past, Moghaddam has warned opposition supporters to stay off the streets or face harsh consequences, saying the “era of tolerance is over. Anyone attending such rallies will be crushed.”
The SMS and e-mailing appear to be part of wider back-to-basic tactics used by the opposition, such as pamphlets and graffiti.
Other tactics include scribbling pro-opposition statement on banknotes, mostly in the signature green color of the opposition movement. This has riled authorities and the central bank has scrambled to pull the notes out of circulation.
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Source: Washington Post
Panel Ties Ally of Iran Leader to Protester Deaths
An Iranian parliamentary panel said Sunday that Tehran’s prosecutor, an ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was responsible for the beating deaths of three imprisoned protesters last summer, state news agencies reported.
The panel’s investigative report said the prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, who has since been promoted, was responsible for the violence against protesters in the notorious Kahrizak detention center, where at least three young men, including the son of a former Revolutionary Guards commander, were killed.
The allegation was a rare criticism of a senior official involved in the government’s crackdown on the protest movement that erupted in June over disputed election results. It also exposed the internal rift between Mr. Ahmadinejad’s faction, which favors a severe response to the protesters, and his conservative opponents, led by the speaker of Parliament, Ali Larijani, who favor compromise.
The report said Mr. Mortazavi insisted on sending 147 detainees to the prison in Kahrizak, south of Tehran, and “keeping them for four days in a space of 750 square feet, without ventilation in the heat of summer, lack of hygienic standards, food and water, in addition to beating and intimidation by prison guards.”
While the report did not accuse Mr. Mortazavi of personal involvement in prisoner abuse, it said he was aware of the conditions at the prison and as prosecutor was responsible for them.
The report identified the dead prisoners as Mohsen Ruholamini, Amir Javadifar and Mohammad Kamrani. Mr. Ruholamini was the son of a senior member of the Revolutionary Guards and close aide to Mohsen Rezai, a candidate in the June presidential election.
The report said that “the judiciary needs to deal with those behind the incident with no sympathy or regard to their position in order to restore the reputation of the Islamic Republic.” Any prosecution of Mr. Mortazavi will be up to the judiciary.
In December, the authorities acknowledged for the first time that at least three protesters had been beaten to death in the prison, and a military court said that 12 prison officials had been charged with murder and other crimes. The court did not identify the officials.
The parliamentary panel rejected allegations by detainees at the prison that they had been raped by guards, saying they were nothing more than “illusions of a mother.” Opposition members have accused the authorities of having detainees raped, and at least three former detainees have made the accusations publicly since their release in recent months.
After accounts of abuse emerged in July, outraging many Iranians, including several prominent conservatives, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ordered the prison closed.
A summary of the report appeared on a member of Parliament’s Web site last week, but the full report was read on the floor of Parliament on Sunday. The report was posted on the official ISNA Web site and read on state radio.
Mr. Mortazavi, who issued the arrest warrants for more than 100 former officials, activists and journalists in June, served as the Tehran prosecutor until August. He was then promoted to deputy state prosecutor and later to a government position overseeing efforts to combat smuggling. He was already well known by the opposition for having shut down more than 100 pro-reform newspapers and having jailed dozens of journalists in the 1990s.
But one analyst, a former senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that in pinning the blame on Mr. Mortazavi, the government was trying to pacify the opposition.
“They might go as far as sacrificing Mortazavi, but I don’t think this is going to fool the opposition,” he said. “This does not mean a major compromise. It is just a tactic, and they are willing to sacrifice him because he crossed the lines.”
The opposition had one of its largest and bloodiest confrontations with the authorities on Dec. 27, which left at least eight protesters dead, according to official figures. The opposition Jaras Web site reported last week that more than 180 people, including 17 journalists, 10 advisers to the opposition leader Mir Hussein Moussavi and 12 members of the Bahai faith, were arrested afterward.
Ayatollah Khamenei, who has the final word on state matters and has supported Mr. Ahmadinejad, said Saturday the authorities should deal with the protesters “cautiously but firmly.”
The authorities in Tehran arrested 33 women on Saturday, part of a group known as Mourning Mothers, who have lost children in the protests, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported.
Nine of the mothers arrested on Saturday were taken to hospitals, but it was not immediately clear why, said Hadi Ghaemi, the rights group’s director.
By NAZILA FATHI
Source: The New York Times
Relatives of 33 Mourning Mothers Dispersed By Police
A human rights group says police in Iran made two arrests and violently disrupted a demonstration in Tehran by relatives of a group of arrested mothers whose children are missing, RFE/RL’s Radio Farda reports.
Hadi Ghaemi, a spokesman at the U.S.-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, told Radio Farda that the police actions took place one day after the authorities arrested about 30 “mournful mothers” and their supporters.
The “mournful mothers” are a group of women whose children have disappeared or been killed in protests held since Iran’s controversial presidential election in June.
The group is demanding that the government be held accountable for the fate of their children.
Ghaemi said the relatives of the mothers arrived at the detention center to try to find out the women’s whereabouts.
They grew increasingly upset as they received no response from the authorities. Ghaemi says the relatives began to demonstrate and chant.
The police responded by “aggressively” dispersing the crowd.
Ghaemi added that authorities also arrested two passersby who were reportedly taking pictures of the scene. He said the whereabouts of the mothers is still unknown.
The “mournful mothers” had held weekly protests until January 9, when their demonstration was broken up and at least 30 of them were taken into custody.
Ghaemi criticized the authorities, saying that “attacking middle-aged, mourning mothers is not acceptable in any culture. And this behavior shows government forces don’t have any respect for basic human rights.”
Ghaemi said the mothers had every right to demand accountability for their children’s fate, and he complained that Iranian courts are not seeking justice for them.
The incident highlights the frequent practice by Iranian authorities of arresting demonstrators and refusing to provide details about their location.
Source: RFE/RL
