IRAN WATCH CANADA

Wednesday, January 31, 2007



Mr. Ali Farahbakhsh

News in Brief-

Roozonline -Omid Memarian
Narrative from the mother of prisoner on her latest visit with her son:
Mr. Ali Farahbakhsh the journalist had heart attack inside the prison !

Mr. Ali Farahbakhsh by now is more than two months in prison and his mother Mrs. Badri Farahbakhsh in speaking with " Rooz" said in the first two weeks Ali had stomach bleeding and heart attack for this reason he spent eight days in prison hospital, she is worried of her son's physical and mental health. She said; her son told her that he only participated once in a seminar and the interrogators were asking him why he attended to the seminar. His lawyer Mr. Seyed Mahmoud Alizadeh T. told; his client is charged for espionage and his case is for the revie in the court.
Mr. Farahbakhsh is a journalist and his specialty is in economic field .Mr. Farahbakhsh has strong knowledge in English and was participating in many scientific conferences.According to one of his colleague Mr. Farahbakhsh never entered in political activities.
Ali's father is a lawyer . His father said ; "people from small mistake make bigger mistake" , it is impossible a person who has no records will go to bed and wake up the next morning to find out that he has becom an spy.
At present the family and lawyer are trying to bail him out.

Link to this news:
http://www.roozonline.com/archives

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Mr. Lesani

News in brief-
MP from the city of Tabriz spoke out on hunger strike of an Azarbayejan activist !
Mr. Akbar Alami an MP from the city of Tabriz to the Islamic assembly is the first Islamic Republic official who have spoke on Mr. Lesani's hunger strike.
According to a report by BBC farsi edition Mr. Alami on speaking with BBC annouced that; based on report from news agencies, his lawyer and letter from his families Mr. Lesani went on hunger strike because; he believes that the prison official do have descriminatory bahaviour towards him and as a result of that his health condition is not good. Mr. Lesani is spending his 18 months prison sentence in Ardebil city prison since October 31st /06 . By doing the hunger strike he also protesting against his leave of absence which was denied to him by prison official. He started his hunger strike on first of January after writing a protest letter to Ardebil city prosecutor for his leave of absence from prison.
Mr. Lesani is around 38 years old and has a butcher shop in the city of Ardebil. He is active on the rights of Azari's .
Mr. Lesani was arrested on June 3 /06 with regard to the protests that was started on last spring( May 27) in many Azarbayejan cities including Ardebil. In his first trial he was sentenced to 16 months prison term and 50 lashes, but later it was changed on the idea that his role in protest was greater , therefore , he was sentenced to 18 months prison term and a three years internal exile to the city of Tabas.
He also once in protest to the travel of an Armanian delegate to Ardebil city, staged a protest in Ardebil Sarcheshmeh mosque , and was detained for 24 days.

In this regard Mr. Ensafali Hedayat journalist who is now living in Canada wrote a letter to Mr. Shahrudi the head of Iran's judiciary and requested for his interference in the case and Mr. Lesani's release.

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.bbc.net.uk/persian/iran/story


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Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Journalism Put to the Sword in 2006:
IFJ Reports 155 Murders and Unexplained Killings in Year of Unprecedented Brutality

31/12/2006The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said today that 2006 was a year of tragedy for the world’s media as killings of reporters and media staff reached historic levels with at least 155 murders, assassinations and unexplained deaths. “Media have become more powerful and journalism has become more dangerous,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “2006 was the worst year on record – a year of targeting, brutality and continued impunity in the killing of journalists.” [more...]
During the year the numbers began to accumulate with civil strife and resistance to military occupation in Iraq. The IFJ says media became prime targets of terror attacks or victims of poor soldiering. By the year’s end, 68 media staff had been killed, bringing to 170 the number killed in the country since the invasion in April 2003.
Elsewhere, the IFJ says continuing violence in Latin America, particularly Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela, claimed the lives of 37 media staff while in Asia relentless attacks in the Philippines and Sri Lanka pushed the total of killings to 34.
The only positive sign came in the final days of the year, says the IFJ, when the United Nations, for the first time ever, issued a statement condemning targeting of journalists and calling for prosecution of the killers of media staff.
In a resolution passed on December 23 the UN Security Council unanimously called on governments to respect international law and to protect civilians in armed conflict. The Council called for an end to impunity and for prosecution of the killers of journalists and agreed to prepare annual reports on the risks facing media.
“This was the only bright spot in a year of unremitting gloom,” said White. “For the first time the United Nations has put the focus on a deepening media crisis. It is long overdue. We want to see action against countries that allow impunity in the killing of journalists.”
The IFJ totals for 2006 are as follows: Murders, Targeted Killings and Unexplained Deaths: 155 Not included -- Accidental Death while on duty: 22
The previous high was last year when the IFJ recorded 154 deaths, a number inflated tragically by the deaths of 48 Iranian journalists on a military assignment. But this year there were many fewer accidents – just 22.
The full details are set out in the IFJ report –Journalism Put to the Sword – to be published in the middle of January. The report also covers the work of the IFJ Safety Fund, which provides humanitarian aid to the victims of violence and their families.
The focus once again is on Iraq, where the IFJ has been campaigning vigorously over impunity in the killing of journalists. For the last three years the IFJ has organised a day of protest on April 8 – the day in 2003 when three journalists died under US fire in Baghdad. There have been 19 such killings in Iraq and in all these cases media organisations and victims’ families are still waiting for independent and credible reports about what happened.
In October a judge in the United Kingdom said one of the victims, ITN journalist Terry Lloyd, was unlawfully killed by American soldiers outside Basra. His interpreter Hussein Osman was also killed and cameraman Fred Nerac is missing believed dead. There have been calls for prosecution of US servicemen involved in this and many other cases.
Nevertheless, during 2006 the vast majority of killings have been at the hands of terrorists and sectarian gangs who have made the streets of Baghdad and other major cities no-go areas for many news teams.
But the IFJ says that the crisis of impunity is not confined to conflict zones.
On December 12 the Federation joined with other international press support groups to launch an International Commission of Inquiry into the killings of journalists in Russia. The action follows the assassination of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow on October 7. Her death was the latest in more than 200 killings of journalists in Russia since 1993. Many of these have been explained, but since President Vladimir Putin came to power around 40 killings of journalists have taken place and none of them have been satisfactorily resolved.
Second only to Iraq among the most dangerous spots in the world for active journalism is the Philippines, says the IFJ, where 13 journalists died in 2006, bringing to 49 the number of media staff murdered since Gloria Arroya came to power in 2001 – surpassing the numbers killed under the 14-year Marcos Dictatorship.
And in Latin America journalists in Mexico moved ahead of Colombia as the deadliest country for journalists covering crime and corruption with 10 deaths, many of them investigative reporters.
In Africa countries wracked by internal conflict also proved to be the most dangerous for journalists. Swedish freelance Martin Adler was shot while filming a demonstration in Mogadishu and veteran journalist Mohammed Taha, a Sudanese editor, was kidnapped and killed.
“It has been a year in which small steps have been taken to confront this media catastrophe,” said White, “The issue will figure strongly at the IFJ World Congress to be held in Moscow in May. But we must do more, particularly to help the victims of violence and to bring the killers of our colleagues to justice.”
For more information: Aidan White: 0032 478 258 669Rachel Cohen: 0032 484 597 591
The IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 100 countries worldwide

Link to this news :
http://aoij.ir/2007/01/22/post_517/

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Arash Sigarchi an Iranian blogger and journalist was sentenced to two years imprisonment by the Islamic Republic judiciary system. Arash recently found that he has cancer . He is now on medical treatment. The treatment in Iran is very expensive.Many inside and outside Iran are helping him financially . He needs your help . You can help him through Iranian Association of Journalists.

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Ahmadinejad's ship is sinking !

Just a few days ago we heard that Mr. Elham the political advisor to Mr. Ahmadinejad is no longer going to be the head of his office. Both Mr. Elham and his wife together with Ahmadinejad's cabinet and in general the entire crew didn't bring anything to repaire the sinking ship of Ahmadinejad's government except adding more into the problems. As a result of this; Islamic Republic is more than ever divided internally and isolated internationally.Islamic Republic with this present government is politically bancrupt. As conservative government of Ahmadinejad is sinking the reformist movement is getting momentum and the reformists are more than ever understood the need for unity. On the other hand the "Front for Democracy and Human Rights" is also moving in the right path.This could become a potential voice for Iranian if it stick to people's demand and their agenda for human rights and democracy . These could go bigger and will pull more participants if it keeps in mind the failure of Khatami as a reformer and what made him to fail was his believe on negotiation at high level only. He didn't have had the gut to stand firm with people who supported him and fight with the leader of the Islamic Republic and to push for more oppenness and freedom. Thats why when he left office and Ahmadinejad became president the suppression of freedom started in all over Iran.
The recent news are all indication of more suppression . In the news we read: Dr. Sorush's ( An Islamic philosopher and a reformer) son has been summoned by the desciplinary committee of Tehran University.Or five Tehran University students have been summoned to the same committee. The ship is sinking internally and internationally . The people are infact frustrated from this government and the whole system.


These are the students who have been summoned to the disciplinary committee:
Mr. Hosain Dabagh ( Sorush's son)
http://www.roozna.com/Negaresh_site

Mr. Behnam Sepehrmand
Mr. Mostafa Kuhi
Mr. Isa Adeli
Mr. Said Saidi
Mr. Morteza Khosravi
http://www.roozna.com/Negaresh_site

In recent days court hearing of four blogger was also held :
Mr. Omid Memarian
Mr. Javad Gholam Tamimi
Mr. Ruzbeh Mirebrahimi
Mr. Shhram Rafizadeh
This is known as the "Internet file".
http://www.roozna.com/Negaresh_site

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Committee Protecting Journalists(CPJ)

Visit this site for international news on media, journalists ,freedom of press and freedom of expression.Read more on any workshop or project.

http://www.cpj.org/

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Sunday, January 28, 2007




News in Brief-

Three activist from women movement have been arrested in " Emam" Airport !

Ms. Talat Taghi-nia, Ms. Mansureh Shojaie and Ms. Farnaz Seifi are journalists , women movement activists and member of Women Cultural Centre. They were on thier way to India to participate in a journalist workshop when they were arrested in the airport. After the arrest , the security agents accompanied them to their home , after inspection of home, they have confiscated their personal belonging such as books, computer files and their writings and then they transfered them to cell number 209 in Evin prison.

Link to this news in Farsi:

http://www.iran-emrooz.net/index.php?/news1/11853/

The latest news indicate that: The three women activists are released from prison on bail but their investigation will be continued. They were arrested on last Saturday while in the airport leaving for India.

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Friday, January 26, 2007



















On Thursday Jan. 25/07 in Toronto University Akbar Ganji finally received his award from CJFE president Mr. Arnold Amber after more than six years. In year 2000, Akbar Ganji was nominated for this award by Three Iranians living in Canada: Dr. Reza Baraheni former president of PEN Canada and writer , Weekly Shahrvand publisher Mr. Hassan Zerehi and Morteza Abdolalian CJFE board member. After receiving the award , Ganji was interviewed by Carol off the host of CBC Radio program " As it Happens" . Question and answer was the last part of the program .

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Thursday, January 25, 2007
















Renowned Iranian Journalist and DissidentAkbar Ganji Speaks in TorontoTORONTO, January 23, 2006 - Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) and the University of Toronto Departments of Historical Studies-UTM & Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations & the Toronto Initiative for Iranian Studies welcome Iran's most renowned journalist and dissident, Akbar Ganji in one of his first public appearances in North America since being released after six years of imprisonment in the infamous Evin prison in Tehran. Mr. Ganji will also accept the prestigious International Press Freedom award from CJFE awarded to him in 2000.Date:Thursday, January 25, 2007, 7:00 p.m.Venue:The Koffler Institute, 569 Spadina Avenue, University of Toronto, Room 108 Admission is free. All are welcome, but come early as space is limited.Who:Akbar Ganji, Iranian journalistArnold Amber, President, CJFECarol Off, Host of CBC Radio One 99.1’s "As It Happens"What:Discussion of state of Press Freedom in IranPresentation of the 2000 International Press Freedom AwardCanadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) is an association of more than 300 journalists, editors, publishers, producers, students and others who work to promote and defend free expression and press freedom in Canada and around the world.- 30 -For more information contact:Julie PayneCanadian Journalists for Free Expression416.515.9622 x 226 or visit www.cjfe.org

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Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Teachers to Stage A General Strike?
Roozonline- Kaveh Khalagh - 2007.01.25
A group of Iranian teachers will gather in front of the Majlis (Iran’s Parliament) building today to protest Ahmadinejad Administration’s efforts to recall a wage raise bill from the Majlis. Rooz Online spoke to Ali Akbar Baghani, president of Iran Teachers Association regarding this. Baghani warns that teachers will stage a general strike if the administration recalls the bill.
Rooz (R): It seems very likely that the administration will recall the bill. Ali Akbar Baghani (Baghani): If it recalls the bill we will go on strike. The Minister of Oil said that he would shut down the pipelines; we say that we would shut down our classes, until our wages reach the level of oil workers. Teachers from all over the country are ready to come to Tehran, and we are ready to go on a general strike if the government does not address our concerns.
R: What did the teachers receive from the president’s promise to ‘distribute the oil wealth?’ Baghani: We didn’t even smell the wealth, let alone see any of it. Our income has gone down during this period. Even the teachers who supported the administration no longer do. Teachers get paid 2,780 thousand rials (about 320 U.S. dollars) a month, which is the lowest salary amount among all government agencies. We even get the lowest bonuses, not enough to buy a few pounds of pistachios. If you want to adjust for inflation, this year we should have been paid 17 million riyals (about 1,950 U.S. dollars) in bonuses alone.
R: The average salary for a teacher is 2,780 thousand rials (about 320 USD). But the poverty line is calculated at 5,430 thousand rials (about 625 USD). How do you live like that?Baghani: Most teachers have other jobs in addition to teaching. Our minister is a populist. He doesn’t have any managerial experience. He is a regular engineer, retired, tired, and without a deep understanding of the philosophy behind education and culture. Actually, 80 percent of those working in the educational administration have no experience in this field. They have politicized the educational system. Instead of an expert group, a political group is controlling the educational system.
R: You are protesting in front of the Majlis. How is your relationship with Majlis deputies? Baghani: We will defend the stance of Majlis deputies. Mr. Haji Babai, Noei Aghdam, Haghshenas and others support the bill. In any rate, their future is tied to the upcoming elections.
Rooz: So the Majlis is more supportive of your demands? Baghani: In this particular instance, yes. Majlis deputies are more concerned with our demands because of the next elections, and also because of the efforts they spent on writing this bill. Majlis deputies are wiser than people in the administration. Officials in the administration are good for running a school, not a country. But, because of their experience in the legislature, many Majlis deputies understand the issues better.

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Monday, January 22, 2007




















































Akbar Ganji in Sheridan College , Oakville, Canada.

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Akbar Ganji in Sheridan College , Oakville , Canada among students in " journalist programe for internationally trained writers "

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Sunday, January 21, 2007



Akbar Ganji in CJFE- IFex office in Toronto

Picture by: Photojournalist Nasibe Rokhsefat

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Peace , Not War !

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UPDATE - IRAN
19 January 2007

Journalist prevented from leaving the country to collect prize
SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris
**Updates IFEX alerts on the Rahmani case of 8 March and 1 February 2005, 29 September, 10 and 3 May, 11 March and 13 January 2004, and others**
(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders expressed concern after a freelance journalist, Taghi Rahmani, was prevented from leaving Iran as he prepared to travel to Denmark on 13 January 2007 to receive a prize awarded by the local section of the freedom of expression organisation, PEN International.
"We are very disturbed by this step, which has no legal basis," the worldwide press freedom organisation said. "A ban on leaving the country, often used in Iran against independent voices, is designed above all to cut journalists off from the external world. This harassment is also intended to punish them for having links with foreign media and organisations", it added.
Rahmani told Reporters Without Borders that he had been arrested on the tarmac at Tehran international airport, moments before boarding the plane for Copenhagen. He added that the authorities had also seized his passport.
The journalist, who is a leading press freedom activist, has worked for several Iranian publications, which has brought him into frequent conflict with the regime. Between 1981 and 2005, he was sentenced to a total of 5,000 days in prison for articles he had written.
Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders repeated its concern about the plight of Kaveh Javanmard, a journalist with the weekly "Karfto", held secretly for exactly one month. His family has not received any news of him since his arrest, on 18 December 2006, from his home in Sanandej (Iranian Kurdistan) by intelligence ministry agents (see IFEX alert of 11 January 2007).
For further information contact Hajar Smouni, RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: moyen-orient@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org
The information contained in this update is the sole responsibility of RSF. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit RSF.
_______________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
555 Richmond St. West, # 1101, PO Box 407
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 3B1
tel: +1 416 515 9622 fax: +1 416 515 7879
alerts e-mail: alerts@ifex.org general e-mail: ifex@ifex.org

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Saturday, January 20, 2007

News in Brief-

Nine Tehran University student activists are summoned to disciplinary committee !

According to a report by " ILNA " news agency Mr. Ahmad Musavi, Mr. Vahid Masumi, Mr. Farid Hashemi, Mr. Shahu Rastgari, Mr. Behzad Ahmad Far , Mr. Yaser Mokhtari , Mr. Jashid Esmaili, Ms. Pegah Hamzeie and Mr. Alireza Biareh on Wedensday were summoned to disciplinary committee.
For these and other reason on students situation Minister of Science is going to be summoned to the parliament in the near future.

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.iran-emrooz.net/index.php?/news2/11757/

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News from Iran:

Nine group has joined in democratic & Human Rights front !

Several parties and socio-political organizations with strong background officialy announced their agreement to join in democratic front.
According to " Aftab " reporter, in recent "Democratic & Human Rights front" meeting , several partys and socio-political organizations with strong background officially announced their agreement to join the front.
These partys and socio-economical organizations are as follows:
The "Council of Melli -Mazhabi Activists "with engineer Ezat Sahabi as their leader, Combatent Moslem Front " with Dr. Habibolah Payman as their leader, "Jama Party" with Mr. Nezamodin Ghahari as their leader, "Iranian Peoples Freedom Party " with engineer Keyvan Samimi ( Manager in charge of "Nameh " publication as their general secretary. It has been said that; in near future several other organization will also join the "Democratic & Human Rights Front".
The other partys that have joined the front before were : "Front for Participation in Islamic Iran" , "Council for reformists coordination" and several independent intellectuals and political -social and cultural personalities.

IRAN WATCH CANADA: It is needed to say that ;opposition political partys like the traditional left , monarchists and .... are banned for any activity inside Iran and their leaders are outside Iran.

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.iran-emrooz.net/index.php?/news2/11769/

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Thursday, January 18, 2007

Women's Day in Iran.
Visit this link to see the video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNWnzRv25E&mode=related&search=

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Tuesday, January 16, 2007

" The Birthday" is a film from Negin Kianfar and Daisy Mohr.
It's about sexual changing in Iran !
The Birthday

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A picture when Ganji visited CJFE ( Canadian Journalists for Freedom of Expression) office in Toronto!

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News in Brief-

You can build wall around human , but you can't build wall around the thought !

The statement of a group of Iranian Kurdish writers, journalists and political activists in protest against the recent arrest , imprisonment in Kurdish province reads : "Arrest and imprisonment of writers, journalists ,political and civil rights activists in Kurdish region , has never been a decisive solution to the Socio-political problems of Kurdistan and will never be ".
On Monday January 15 /07 a group of writers, journalists and political activists demanded for an end to the arrest and imprisonment of journalists , students , writers , political and civil rights activists in Kurdistan.

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.iran-emrooz.net/index.php?/news1/11706/

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Read here more on journalists in Afghanistan:

http://www.nai.org.af/

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Friday, January 12, 2007

This one ; an Iranian classic music entertainment :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K2iZWexSBE&mode=related&search=

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Seat back ,Listen to this beautiful music and relax:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nvrGWHij10&watch_response

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Akbar Ganji speaking in New York where
hunger strike in support of political prisoners in Iran
and demand for their freedom was organized !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl4qoqwne-Q

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Photo shows Akbar Ganji seated in the middle in CJFE office.

Guess who is in Canada?

Finally Akbar Ganji arrived in Canada. Mr. Ganji arrived on last Tuesday and today Friday January 12/07 He was in CJFE & IFex office in downtown Toronto. Ganji won the year 2000 international award from CJFE , while in the office, he met CJFE and IFex Staff which then followed by question and answer . All i can say is this : Mr. Ganji is a gift to Iranian people whose goal is to bring respect for human rights and democracy in Iran . Iranian should honor this man who have put his life on the line of his profession as an investigative journalist to tell the truth to the public. He said that he will be in Canada for 2-3 weeks . CJFE is going to hold a press conference for Akbar Ganji in the near future and in that day CJFE will officially hand the award to him.

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Wednesday, January 10, 2007




News in brief-
Rogues attacked the printing house of "Etemad Melli" newspaper !
Rogues attacked the printing house of " Tuti" where " Etemad Melli " newspaper is being printed and this has delayed the newspapers' printing for half an hour!
In the early morning of January 9/07 , several persons riding on motorcycles has attacked " Tuti" printing house and by making noise and shouting were trying to delay the newspapers' printing . They broke several glasses of the printing house by stone and bricks and with broken glasses they have attacked the employees of printing house and wounded several of them .
It took 45 minuites for police to arrive to the scene and because of delay the rogues were able to escape.Meanwhile, when the police arrived , the employees were able to recognize some of the rogues around the printing house and with the help of police they were able to trap them in a blind alley but they were able to escape .The wounded employees were transfered to coroners office and a complaint was filed in a police station in "Islamshahr".

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.roozna.com/Negaresh_site/FullStory/?Id=28823


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" I'm not going to register my site !"

Ahmadinejad government has asked all blogger inside Iran to register their site with the government and if this is not done , the government will deny the access . On this issue the blogger has started to post a flag on their site reading : " I'm not going to register my site !" .


Background:

* Speaking at the UN summit in Geneva, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told delegates that the key
requirements of a knowledge based society are a "commitment to ethical values, human rights and principles of democracy".

* Iran is on Reporters Without Borders' list of the 13 enemies of the Internet.


Filtering in Iran must be stoped !

* " Mihan blog " services has announced that ; on Monday January 1/2007 a list of 597 weblog from one of the government offices officially was sent to "Mihan blog" management for filtering.

*The section of " Women rights " from the site of "Ayatollah Saneei" have also been filtered by several ISP including "Sepanta".

* The following site have been filtered : Parastoo, Zanestan, Hastia , Babak Biat , second self.......

* We the signaturies : Civil rights activists in Iran , women organizations, weblog writers, technical Internet users,human rights organizations, university professionals, specialists and Iranian citizens.... are worried about filtering, censorship, and blocking the information on internet in Iran particularly in women sections and gender problems and therefore make our protest in this regard.

* Filtering of the sites is done by a "committee of three persons" and with the order of telecommunication minister, Ministry of justice , "www.ict.gov.ir", " Committee Taeen masadigh",.....................

* Previousely the " photo services " section of ISNA was also been filtered.

* Previousely the filtering was done by local filtering providers, but six months ago the deputy of telecommunication bought a several million dollars American equipements for filtering the websites in Iran.

* Not long ago Iran participated in a conference on information society and have signed the resolution which has emphasized on all countries must officially recognize the free flow of information on internet.

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Tuesday, January 09, 2007

News in brief-

The website of " the campaign for one million signatures" has been filtered !
This morning the website of " The campaign for one million signatures to change the discriminatory laws " with following address ( www.we-change.com ) by some of the ISP's has been filtered.
According to a report by " Amir-Kabir" newsletter , this campaign which have been active by women rights advocate , started to collect signature in order to change the discriminatory laws against women. it needs to add that ; In recent weeks, this campaign has become active in and around the country and the extend of the signature campaign has reached to the city's as far as Kermanshah , Mashhad and .........
The activities of this group was also reported around the world and there were also round table discussion and gathering in support of this campaign in many other countries.

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.roozna.com/Negaresh_site/FullStory/?Id=28807

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ICFJ Launches Groundbreaking Online Program for Iranian Journalists

The International Journalists’ Network helps Iranian journalists connect, find training opportunities

( Washington , D.C. ) – The International Center for Journalists took its first steps to support Iranian media with the launch of a Persian channel on its International Journalists’ Network (http://www.ijnet.org/), the online Web site for media professionals seeking networking and training.

Iranian journalists are increasingly turning to the Internet for crucial information. IJNet Persian will help support independent journalism by linking Iranian journalists with colleagues-- and professional training opportunities- -around the world.

“IJNet Persian is a new way to reach journalists in Iran ,” says ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan. “Iranian journalists will now be able to access our extensive libraries of media laws, codes of ethics, training materials, and fellowship opportunities.”

Since its launch in 1998, IJNet has become the premier resource for journalists and media organizations in the developing world. With Persian, IJNet now publishes in five languages, including Arabic, English, Portuguese and Spanish. Its team of international reporters publishes dozens of articles each week on media training and holds regular discussions on hot topics. IJNet receives more than 40,000 visitors each month.

To visit the site, go to http://www.ijnet.org/Persian. For more information, contact mailto:persian@icfj.org.

####

The International Center for Journalists, a non-profit, professional organization, promotes quality journalism worldwide in the belief that independent, vigorous media are crucial in improving the human condition.

In the past 22 years, ICFJ has worked directly with more than 20,000 journalists from more than 176 countries. Aiming to raise the standards of journalism everywhere, particularly in areas with little or no tradition of a free press, ICFJ offers hands-on training workshops, seminars, fellowships and international exchanges to reporters and media managers around the globe. For further information, visit http://www.icfj.org/.

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Monday, January 08, 2007

REGIONAL NEWS:
MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

2. IRAN: ARTICLE 19 CAMPAIGN FOCUSES ON INTERNET CENSORSHIP
ARTICLE 19 has launched a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the increasing spread of Internet censorship in Iran.
Entitled "The Persian Impediment", the campaign features a website allowing visitors to report cases of censorship and participate in online discussions on freedom of expression. The website also lists bloggers and online journalists who have been imprisoned in Iran, and provides detailed information about how the Iranian government and religious leadership censors freedom of expression on the Internet.
Internet usage in Iran has grown substantially in the past few years as increasing numbers of Iranians turn to online chat rooms, blogs and e-mail to seek information and ideas. However, those who take risks and challenge the status quo are harshly penalised. Twenty-eight bloggers and online journalists have been imprisoned since 2003. Evidence suggests that fewer people are willing to speak out against the government as a result, says ARTICLE 19.
Visit the campaign website here: http://www.persianimpediment.org/
Visit these links:
- IFEX Alerts on Iran: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/221/
- Gozaar: https://www.gozaarjournal.org/
- Iran Watch Canada: http://moriab.blogspot.com/

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News in Brief-
Dr. Hesam Firuzi , the doctor of Ahmad Batebi ( The imprisoned student activist ) have been arrested and currently is in the cell number 350 of Evin prison!
On Last Saturday January 6/07 Dr. Hesam Firuzi, the doctor of Ahmad Batebi ( the imprioned student activist),together with his wife and a summoning letter in his hand entered to the division number 14 of Tehran Court of Revolution and was arrested and transfered to Evin prison.
His wife Mrs. Mahta Bordbar believes that; her husband was arrested because of being the doctor of student activist Ahmad Batebi.
Dr. Firuzi who is a human rights defender and worked voluntarily for political prisoners is charged with " Action against national security" .The court believe that Dr. Firuzi has published reports on Batebi's medical condition .
Dr. Firuzi was also arrested earlier on October 8/06 with similar charges in his resident in Tehran and spent two days in cell number 209 in Evin prison.
Mrs.Bordbar the wife of Dr. Firuzi in speaking with "Radio Farda" have said that she has spoken with her husband in Cell number 350 in Evin prison via phone.

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.iran-emrooz.net/index.php?/news2/11611/

http://www.iran-emrooz.net/index.php?/news2/11595/




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News in brief:

Is the current regime planning to use " defame and detaine" tactic against civil rights activists in Iran especially madame Shirin Ebadi?!

Because of the isolation in international scene , where the regime is heading , another North Korea in Middle East ?

On Saturday January 6/07 an article was posted on the site of " Baztab" which is owned by Mr. Mohsen Rezaie the former head of the " Sepahe Pasdaran" ( guardian corps) . The article had no name of its writer seems trying to instigate anger ,doubt, and michief against Madam Shirin Ebadi the Noble Peace prize winner .
The article starts with a title like this : Mrs. Ebadi , Give your information about helping the people of Bam !
The story goes back to 2003 when a devastating earthquack hit the city of "Bam " and brought a national calamity . At the time Madame Shirin Ebadi for helping the people of Bam announced an account inside and outside Iran for fundraising to help the Bam victims . Now this article is asking questions from Madame Ebadi about ; How much money was raised ? and what have been done ? the irony of this article is that it does not question the government officials and doesn't aske for special inquiry and investigation on the corruption of official in this regard.
What is the purpose of this article at this particular moment of time? For sure it isn't because the writer of this article have passion towards the people of Bam but the reason for writing this article is something else, like to raise question on Madame Shirin Ebadi's personality and by doing so to start its attack on her further in the future and in fact help the current government to establish a scenario against madame Ebadi and others. This seems to be the smell of this article !?

Link to this article in Farsi:
http://www.baztab.ir/news/57294.php


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News in Brief-

The new government regulation:

The financial support by the government for student continuing their education in America, Canada and Britain has been cut off !
Few weeks after scattered news about cutting off the money for students in several countries which brought worries among students continuing their education in foreign countries , finally an official from "Ministry of Science" confirmed that the financial support for students continuing their education in America, Canada and Britain has been cut off .
The news was announced by "Mr. Mahmoud Molabashi "deputy for the students from the "Ministry of Science" and he added: The reason for taking this decission was because of the " behaviors " of universities of these three countries with Iranian students.

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.roozna.com/Negaresh_site/FullStory/?Id=28622

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Sunday, January 07, 2007



News in brief-
the deputy of the "Association of Iranian Syndicate Journalists" is worried about the situation of one of its member Mr. Ali Farahbakhsh !
The general manager of the prisons in Tehran province : Farah Bakhsh is in prison .
Mr. Mashaollah Shamsolvaezin in speaking with ISNA 's reporter have said:
According to the news received by the "Association of Iranian Syndicate Journalists" Mr. Ali Farahbakhsh journalist and member of the association was arrested fourthy days ago while coming back from a conference . His family and the association doesn't have any information from his whereabout.
Mr. Shams said : According to the report received; he is now in detention ! Mr. Shams asked the officials to immediately and officially announce the charges of this and other individuals who have been arrested these ways . The mother of Mr. Farahbakhsh also demanded for clarification of her son's situation.
In the meantime Mr. Sohrab Soleymani the general manager of the prisons in Tehran province have announced that Mr. Farahbakhsh is currently in prison and he is doing fine.

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://news.gooya.eu/politics/archives/2007/01/056328.php


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News in brief-

Minority fraction in the parliament is trying to summon "Ahmadinejad" to the parliament !
the minority fraction reporter has reported that ; Several MP is trying to summon president to the parliament for questioning !
According to " Aftab " newspaper reporter Ms. Mahsa Amr-abadi , Mr.Noorodin Pir-moazen the reporter for the minority fraction in the parliament have said that ; up to now 38 MP has signed the request for summoning the president to the parliamnet. It needs 72 Mp (1/4th of the total members of the parliament )to signe the request in order to summon the president to the parliament.
The main person who have asked for summoning the president to parliament is Mr. Akbar Alami the MP from the city of Tabriz.
He said : The minority fraction in the parliament need to question the president on the current economic and political problems and added : We also decided to summon the ministers to the parliament.

Link to this report in Farsi:
http://www.iran-emrooz.net/index.php?/news2/11601/

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Friday, January 05, 2007




An Iranian cleric journalist works at the offices the reformist daily Etemad-Malli's offices in Tehran. The offices of the newspaper were attacked overnight and its entrance blown up, according to the paper's public relations officer. Launched in Feb. 2006, Etemad-Melli is published by Mehdi Karrubi, a reformist cleric and a presidential hopeful of the June 2005 election. (Photo: Atta Kenare / AFP-Getty Images).

Information Crackdown
Niusha Boghrati

Worldpress.org correspondent

October 26, 2006

It was less than a decade ago that for the first time in years, Iranians began to feel the intoxicating breeze of long-denied basic civil rights — foremost among them, the right to express themselves and the right to know.
In the summer of 1997, more than 20 million Iranians — the majority of them long-oppressed youth and women — wrote on their ballots the one name that they felt could make their wildest dreams come true in bringing back "freedom" to their lives, Mohammad Khatami.
With his ascension to the presidency, the reformist Khatami began to fulfill many of his vows: the massive social suppression on the youth began to fade away; the banned books got published; banned movies were screened and theaters were filled; concerts and other cultural gatherings such as festivals were held; and perhaps most significantly of all, the concept of a "free press" was revived.

Tens of different newspapers and journals emerged, produced by long-suppressed journalists and elites. Major policies were criticized, debates were held, and most surprising to Iranians the president remained supportive.
Following the basic changes that were taking place in the political, social, and cultural arenas in Iran, the critics then took the opportunity to focus on what they saw as the fundamental factor behind the Islamic Republic's anti-democratic charter — absolute dominance of a supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The red line had been crossed.
More than 100 pro-reformist publications were shut down by the direct order of Khamenei, journalists were put in prison, the student movement was brutally cracked down upon, and activists were suppressed, even murdered. Khatami himself paid a price in the challenge over the freedom of expression — his major reform adviser, Saeed Hajjarian, was assassinated, his culture minister was forced to resign, and his minister of internal affairs was jailed.
The major fight over the reforms had begun.
During the two terms of Khatami's presidency, although the suppression of the press resulted in the closure of hundreds of papers, still the spirit of the movement was kept alive by substitute journals that kept emerging after others had been shut down.
But the eight years passed quickly. Khatami and his reformist allies were put away and a new face filled the president's office in Tehran — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. With ascension of Ahmadinejad, which unlike Khatami's victory was warmly greeted by the supreme leader and other "behind the scenes" figures, many worried that the then relatively free cultural environment of Iran would revert back into its dark times.
Their worries came true.
At the beginning it seemed like the routine crackdown on journalists that Iranians had become accustomed to, but then the fundamental curbs on free speech revealed that it had much more to it. Ahmadinejad's hard-line government which now was granted the full support of the leadership began a systematic crackdown, not only on the press, but also on every other existent avenue of information — books, satellite television, and most significantly, the Internet.
This time it was not only about dissidents who opposed the system; it was what one might call, "a major battle with the free flow of information."
The Internet
The first and most telling example of the crackdown on information can be found in the overt intolerance shown toward Internet-related activities, and the heavy, unusual methods used to confine users.
In the latest unexpected policy action, Iran's Internet service providers (ISPs) have started reducing the speed of Internet access to homes and cafes based on new government-imposed limits — a move critics said appeared to be part of the clampdown on the media. An official said last week that ISPs were now "forbidden" by the Telecommunications Ministry from providing Internet connections faster than 128 kilobytes per second (kbps), as reported by the official IRNA news agency. The official did not give a reason.
Internet technicians say speeds of 256 kbps, 512 kbps, or higher are increasingly common internationally. Iranian surfers will now find the Web much slower, especially to download audio and video files.
This new decision is apparently much wider in scope than the previous policy of suppression and intimidation. It can also be considered among the first times that the Iranian government has overtly denied its people from accessing "technology" in favor of censorship.
An Iranian Internet engineer, who asked not to be identified, said his firm had started reducing speeds provided to homes and Internet cafes, but not businesses. The Telecommunications Ministry official said the order would stay in place until "new regulations for providing ADSL (high-speed Internet) services" were issued, IRNA reported.
It was not clear if this meant the restrictions were only temporary, but another ISP official said he expected them to stay in place. He said his firm had yet to be officially informed of the new order but was starting to impose the limitations on customers anyway, "because we are not looking for trouble."
Filtering and site-blocking had so far been the most advanced method of 'net limitation in Iran, with more than 10 million Web sites being currently filtered. Discussing the policy on Sept. 11, Ismail Radkani, the director-general for Management and Technical Support at the state Information Technology Company, noted that the filtering software database is updated automatically on a daily basis.
Ramazanali Sadeqzadeh, a legislator from the northern city of Rasht, explained that a small committee in the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council monitors the filtering of Web sites. The committee consists of personnel from the Intelligence and Security Ministry, the Islamic Culture and Guidance Ministry, and Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. Its decision to filter a site is relayed to the Communication and Information Technology Ministry.
It should be noted that Ahmadinejad's fundamentalist administration did not initiate efforts to filter the Internet. The policy, in fact, got underway during the Khatami presidency. At that time, however, control of Internet activities was initially connected with the state's effort to reverse losses in telecommunication revenues, and only later was it related to control of information and expression.
It was not until May 2006 and the Ahmadinejad presidency that the Communication and Information Technology Ministry announced the creation of a central filtering site. According to initial reports, this facility would block access to unauthorized Web sites, identify Internet users, and keep a record of the sites they visited. The system administrator would have access to all the noted information.
The ministry subsequently denied that the filtering facility could identify users and track their browsing habits, and it stressed that it only wants to block access to pornography.
Technology Minister Soleimani announced on April 19 that a "national Internet will be established this year," state television reported. The characteristics of the so-called "national Internet" has not yet been specified, but the main objective of the promised program will be a drastic cut-off from the global media.
Although the new technological crackdown on the Internet seems to be the preferable method of the Islamic Republic of Iran to suppress the digital flow of information, related arrests and interrogations still continue.
In the past six months at least five bloggers and Web site managers have been prosecuted in Iran. Furthermore, on Oct. 21 the state-run IRNA news agency reported that the deputy prosecutor of Tehran had announced the establishment of a special court for Internet "crimes."
Foreign-based Persian and English news Web sites are the most used sources of information by the majority of Iran's young population. According to Iranian officials, the country has more than 11 million Internet users, and Persian is among the most blogged languages on the World Wide Web.
The Press
The press, as the most traditional target of suppression against the flow of information in Iran, has had the most casualties in the new crackdown. During the spring and summer of 2006 more than 29 cases of prosecutions against journalists, 35 cases involving editors, and 8 cases of confiscation of press materials have been filed.
The most recent such press-ban order was issued for the Roozegar newspaper, which many believed was going to replace the newly-closed pro-reform Shargh daily.
Roozegar was banned after only six days of publication on the charges that its logo resembled Shargh, and that according to its license it was not allowed to specifically contain political materials. Such an allegation directly contravenes the official press law of the Islamic Republic of Iran which states, "Any journal of non-political license is allowed to specify up to 20 percent of its space to political issues and its crossover with other journalistic fields."
However, many believe that current issue is just an excuse to remove the reformist press from the news arena.
"This is not the true reason for Roozegar's confiscation. At present there are other dailies that are not licensed for political analysis and yet continue to be somewhat purely political; newspapers such as Hamshahri and Jaam-e Jam [two of the state-run dailies]," said the spokesman of Iran's Press Rights Defenders, Mashaollah Shamsolvaezin. "The fact is that they do not want independent reformist papers such as Roozegar which had hired Shargh's staff to exist."
Shargh was an intensively-read newspaper among the Iranian elite and students. It was considered the very last of the pro-Khatami journals that had still managed to maintain its presence during the first year of Ahmadinejad's presidency. The paper's closure, which coincided with the shutting down of three other independent magazines — Nameh, Hafiz, and Khatereh — provoked a wave of condemnation by moderate politicians, as well as the elite and regular readers.
Some of the charges that led to Shragh's closure were as follows:
Publishing a report mentioning pre-marriage sexual relations.
Reflecting "interfering opinions" of a foreign ambassador in Tehran within an interview accompanied by an "affirmative" picture of his.
Naming the BBC as an authentic news source and interviewing one of its journalists.
Circulating Marxist beliefs.
Sarcasm directed at the Islamic revolution.
Publication of an ambiguous caricature. (The caricature showed a chess table with a donkey, instead of horse, that had a circle of light above its head. Allegations indicated that it resembled Mahmoud Ahmadinjad when he had said he was covered in a glow at the United Nation's General Assembly.)
Although Iranian journalists had always faced a certain amount of censorship in their work, the new accusations revealed a new level of intolerance toward the press. In another case Iran Daily, a government-run newspaper, was closed down after the publication of a caricature that was considered insulting to the Turkish minority in Iran. Its caricaturist, Mana Neyestani, and the editor, Mehrdad Ghasemfar, were detained for months and after substituting the some 300 pro-reform staff of the newspaper, Iran Daily began its publication with a new format and policy.
The Nameh monthly was also shut down for publication of a poem which was accused of being insulting to the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini. The renowned poet, 70-year old Simin Behbahani, was previously beaten up by the police while attending a protest against women's rights violations in Iran.
Previously, many news topics were semi-officially frowned upon (and according to internal announcements, prohibited) for journalists to explore; areas such as "any analysis on Iran's nuclear program." But now with the new accusations many Iranian journalists wonder where their new redlines are, and fear of probable prosecution has led into an atmosphere of self-censorship which has profoundly paralyzed journalistic activities.
The anti-media policy has contagiously moved from the print media to the news-providers as well. Right after his ascension, President Ahmadinejad's culture minister Hossein Saffar Harandi ordered the formation of a new Board of News Wires Observers to keep an eye on the activities of the major news-providers. Following the formation of the board, ISNA news agency was charged with many accusations and reportedly 40 to 50 percent of ILNA's reformist reporters were expelled due to "financial reasons," as announced.
The Association for Freedom of the Press in Iran says that current conditions mark the darkest period in a century for the profession. In a statement, the Association voiced widespread concerns about increased pressure and restrictions being put on journalists and the independent media. The statement demanded that those who openly break the law be brought to justice, and added that, in recent months, the Association had received disturbing reports about violations of the constitution and press laws by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the Supreme National Security Council, and prosecutors in Tehran and the provinces.
Satellite
For a country that according to the law all broadcasts are state-run, and the guidelines for the programs are directly determined by the representative of Supreme leader, satellite T.V. channels presented an attractive alternative that soon drew the attention of millions of Iranians in the early 1990s.
In 1995 the Iranian Parliament passed a law outlawing satellite dishes in a bid to rid the country of "western influences" and prevent foreign-based opposition groups from broadcasting into the country. However, the ban was not strictly enforced.
During mid-summer, Iranian police launched a crackdown against "decadent" satellite television in the Islamic Republic, raiding rooftops in Tehran and other major cities to seize thousands of illegal dishes.
The action followed a warning issued recently by Tehran's then-metropolitan police chief under Khatami, up until his successor took the office last year, to the country's estimated three to four million satellite television watchers who dared to defy the law.
"The use of satellite dishes is prohibited by law and we ask people not to use this equipment anymore," Morteze Talaie said.
Police armed with warrants raided rooftops of large apartment blocks and high-rises in the chic northern and western areas of Tehran on Sunday and have conducted similar operations in other cities, witnesses and press reports said. The police reportedly did not enter apartments themselves, instead seizing dishes installed on roofs of large buildings.
The head of Tehran's provincial police, Reza Zarei, was quoted in the press as saying that the police force will act "against people who conspicuously install their dishes."
Programs broadcast on satellite channels are considered "decadent" by the authorities in the Islamic Republic, which frequently tries to jam the airwaves. Hacked decoders make it possible to receive several hundred satellite channels, including more than two dozen financed by the exiled Iranian opposition, mainly based in the United States.
Many Iranians also use the satellite channels to listen to foreign-based Persian news broadcasts such as the BBC, VOA, and Radio Farda, an American-funded station that covers the human rights violations and political issues intensively.
Books
According to many Iranian writers and publishers, during the past year the publication of many previously authorized books has been held up. There are also reports that many of the books that had obtained a publication license were not granted a distribution permission and therefore have not reached the book shelves.
The culture minister of Ahmadinejad's cabinet, Hossein Saffar Harandi, and the secretary of interior affairs, Mostafa poor Mohammadi, have repeatedly stated their opposition to the cultural programs of Khatami's government calling them anti-Islamic.
"None of the cultural products [books, films, music, etc.] that you see right now are not driven from or approved by this new government," said Saffar Harandi. "The cultural products which are not based on the Koran's studies are not acceptable and we do not need them. Our cultural programs are yet to get started."
During the last Annual Book Fair in Tehran, many of the previously licensed books were seized from the shelves.
Many of Ahmadinejad's key ministers such as Interior Minister Mostafa Poor Mohammadi, Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ezhei, and Minister of Culture Hossein Saffar Harandi, are strongly accused by human rights watchdogs for their alleged role in the clampdown on dissidents in past years. Some are even charged with performing key roles in the mass execution of political prisoners during 1988, and the intellectuals chain murders of 1998.
Poor Mohammadi, then deputy intelligence minister, was expelled from duty after Khatami's victory in the election for the role he played in the aforementioned murders.
According to the Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, Iran is the biggest jail for journalists in the Middle East. It ranks among the top ten press rights violator states of the world, and its leaders, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are among the enemies of the free flow of information.
The government denies these charges, saying it welcomes criticism.
View the Worldpress Desk’s profile for Niusha Boghrati.
Related Articles
Election Backlash Against AhmadinejadOmid Memarian, Worldpress.org correspondent, December 26, 2006
The Concept of FreedomNiusha Boghrati, Worldpress.org correspondent, December 7, 2006
Information Technology and Development in Africa: The Case of EritreaRavinder Rena, Asmara, Eritrea, November 26, 2006
Police Beat Protesting WorkersNiusha Boghrati, Worldpress.org correspondent, October 3, 2006

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Wednesday, January 03, 2007

So ...Sadam was executed !

"The Creation of problems"
By: Morteza A. (IWC)

The policy of Washington and London in Middle East as well as other part of the world is like a road covered by snow , the road that is under many layers of snow, all we have to do is to wash or to shovel the snow in order to see these policy or rewind our memory and clearly focus on the subject . This policy is "the creation of problems " that never comes to an end . They have said by executing Sadam problem of Iraq will be solved . Execution itself created another problem . Now we the people of Middle East must face a bigger and wider problem , a regional problem and face the devision among moslem people , the creation of a problem called Shiie - Sonni conflict , which would serve the interset of both country for many many years to come in the rich region of the world. Anton Chekhov the great Russian writer wrote a short story which is called " The Bet" . This story is about capital punishment, It is a bet between two individuals , one who is a banker believes that: " Execution kills instantly , life imprisonment kills by degrees, .Who is the more humane executioner , one who kills you in a few seconds or one who draws the life out of you incessantly , for years?" But the other individual who is a young lawyer believes that : " Capital punishment and life imprisonment are equally immoral; but if i were offered the choice between them , I would certainly choose the second. It's better to live somehow than not to live at all" . The story opens a window for decission making when it comes to capital punishment for ordinary criminals as well as personality like Sadam . I wish he was handed to international criminal court for crime against humanity and crime against his people and country and the court procedure could be broadcasted internationally to all to see and hear and if guilty ,their sentence; to live the rest of their life with other dictators of the world and corrupted officials . I believe anger brings anger , hate brings hate, revenge brings revenge and peace brings peace and a peaceful environment.
Middle East needs peace more than any part of the world now. The regional conflict is realy geting out of hands, US and Britain policy so far was to pour oil on the fire .

Until here.

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Tuesday, January 02, 2007

News in brief-
Source of the news : " ISNA"
Date: Tuesday January 2/2007

Continuation of conspiracy by Ahmadinejad clique against Iranian people and our counntry! (IWC)

According to this site,the deputy for media and information relation of "Ministry of Guidance" has announced : Iranian website and blogs must register their site from Monday January 1 of the current year .This has been asked from the website writers and bloggers while our country doesn't have a national deta centre and most of the internal websites are outside of the country.
The ministry has asked all the website and blog writers to register their site and personal information in the internet centre of the country with the following addresses : " www.samandehi.ir "and " www.samandehi.com ". The server for these addresses like the server of the internal weblogs and sites are outside of Iran and at any time can be under threat and abuses .The ministry have asked the website and blog owners to register their personal informations , addresses , numbers for contact and to announce their motives for creating their blog or website .One of these site is based in America , collecting all the information of blogers and website writers in These site will allow them to have hands on personal information of bloggers and they can also classify the information they have.
Informations that are going to be published in the blogs or websites are part of the national information of a country , because every person writes based on his personal goal and classiffication of these information in the hands of foreign countries will threaten the national security of our country.
Internet is a new phenomenon in our country and yet much of the public does not have hand on that . In Iran out of 70 million there are only 11 million who have hands on internet . The internet service provider is not yet native.
.............
Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-854465&Lang=P

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Monday, January 01, 2007




Arash Sigarchi's situation according to his site " Istadeh cho Sham " ( Standing like a candle) :
http://sigarchi05.blogsky.com/
Continuation....

Monday December 11, 2006 :
Since last night i'm using serum which ended around noon , Rafuneh( Arash's fiance) came and removed it from my body , at 2:00pm i left for new serum and three serum was injected to me, serums and " Lazix" ( I'm not sure if this spelling is correct- IWC)shot were very stressful and of course for injecting this medication into my body they had to remove the serum off the body and put it back again , in between i had to go to the washroom, today they injected that expensive shot( Erbitex- spelling by IWC) together with serum into my body,each of this Erbitex package cost 500,000 Tuman ( 1 Canadian dollar = 900 Tuman) and in each time they had to use 4 Erbitex package , Today they have used 4 package. In the evening we left for home with a serum on my body , At night Rafuneh's mom was also with me , at late night it was hard to inject the serum.

Tuesday December 12,2006:
I still have serum from last night,Today is the last day of injection,I feel after Erbitex shot war has began in my tongue ! I also had three serum shot today and after paying the bill for injections together with my mother , Rafuneh and her mom we left for the city of Rasht , we have important work to do in the future, on the way i had another serum injected to my hand which should stay until tomorrow.

Wednesday December 13,2006
The serum from last night was finished today at around 10:00am , i'm not feeling well and i feel like vomiting but i'll try by resting to solve the problem. In the evening Rafuneh is visiting me, she has cold and we agreed if she feel better by tomorrow , we will prepare the early stage of our wedding.

Thursday December 14,2006
This morning Rafuneh, her father and i left for blood test , they also needed urine test for drug addiction , i dont know why with all these follow up we still have these much men and women addicts.After that they asked us to participate in an educational class for population and family program which wasn't new for me, especially that i had passed courses on " population & family program " in university, these type of discussion was very primitive, it was also interesting because most of the participants were iliterate/ less educated and couldn't write their name and didn't show interest to educational video, perhaps this is part of the problem that our country face today because when it is needed we dont pay attention to our problems !
At night we left for Rafuneh's family home for more and final decission making, it was a good night, evrything was solved and probably we will get married on the night of " Yalda" ( The longest night of the year)!


Background:
Arash Sigarchi is a journalist and writer from "Gilan" , a province in the north of Iran, he was the editor of " Gilan Emrouz " for five years. After he was summoned and arrested repeatedly , on January 2004 in a court hearing he was sentenced to imprisonment and a bail of 200 milion Tuman ( One Canadian Dollar is = 900 Tuman), and because he didn't have had the money, he was sent to" Lakan " prison in the city of Rasht( His hometown ) .A month later , the third division of the court of revolution in " Gilan " province has charged Arash for "having cooperation with America the hostile country", " for Insulting Khomeini and the current leader" , as well as " doing propaganda or activities and publishing lies" sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment. After two months he was released with lesser bail ,but on January 2005 , the first division of Gilan provinc's appeal court , sentenced Arash for lesser charges to three years imprisonment and the court sent him to prison at the end of January.
In early weeks of this year , Arash Sigarchis' brother " Ashkan Sigarchi" who was an artist and was following Arash's legal situation , in his way from the city of Rasht to Tehran lost his life in a car accident .And now after a year in prison and because of a cancerous tumore, Arash Sigarchi has come to a provisional release from prison and he is currently following his cancer treatment .

Link to Arash's website :

http://sigarchi05.blogsky.com/



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Happy New Year !

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