Iran Tries to Suppress Rape Allegations

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, in a sermon at Tehran University on Friday, denounced claims that protesters had been raped. (Abedin Taherkenareh/European Pressphoto Agency)

(Robert F. Worth and Nazila Fathi | New York Times | 14 August 2009) — Iran’s clerical leadership on Friday stepped up a campaign to silence opposition claims that protesters had been raped in prison, with prayer leaders in at least three major cities denouncing the accusations and their chief sponsor. Read the rest of this entry »

Karoubi Responds to Larijani: I Have Proof of Prisoner Abuse

“I have factual evidence and [unlike Larijani] I am not afraid of losing my positions and titles.” – Karoubi

(Khordaad88 | 13 August 2009) – Karoubi in an interview with Saham News today: “Mr. Rafsanjani passed on the letter to Mr. Shahroudi [the head of the judiciary] and he has ordered an investigation into the claims put forth in this letter. Also, Mr. Dorri Najaf Abadi, the head of the supreme court wants to contact me to inform me that he will send individuals to meet me, so that I can inform them of what I know.” Read the rest of this entry »

Translated Text: The Indictment in the Tehran Trials

(Scott Lucas | Enduring America | 12 August 2009) – From Evan Siegel in Iran Rises, translating the indictment originally published in Fars News. Siegel’s initial comment is that much of the “evidence” appears to rely on Hossein Derakhshan, the blogger detained in November 2008 and initially accused of spying for Israel and the US. Whether or not this is the case, Siegel’s subsequent note that this indictment reads like “whistling past the graveyard”, with the prosecutor “knowing full well…that the precise opposite of what he is saying is true” is on target. Indeed, it reinforces our analysis the day after the first trial, “The indictment and presentation of charges offered no evidence of substantive criminal acts….The “foreign plot” scenario [is] almost laughable, turn[ing] US-based academics into directors of an Iranian insurgency.” Read the rest of this entry »

Iran must open Tehran trial to international observers

Opposition political activists and protesters in court. (Tehran, Iran - 1 August 2009 - AP)

(Amnesty International | 12 August 2009) – With more than 100 people now on trial before Tehran’s Revolutionary Court for fomenting protests against the disputed official result of Iran’s 12 June presidential election, Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan has challenged the Iranian authorities to open up the court to international observers. Read the rest of this entry »

Call for the human rights of the people of Iran to be respected

The Right to Peaceful Protest

In the days following Iran’s presidential election on Friday 12 June, many thousands took part in marches and demonstrations across the country, condemning both the process and outcome of the election. Read the rest of this entry »

Torture and Ill-Treatment Systematic, Not Result of “Negligence” and “Carelessness”

Independent investigation urgently needed to establish the truth

(International Campaign for Human Rights In Iran | 10 August 2009) - While Iranian authorities have claimed that abuse of detainees arrested for participating in peaceful demonstrations, or simply on the basis of their political beliefs, has been the result of “negligence” and “carelessness,” the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said the abuse was systematic and reflected a policy of suppressing dissent, intimidating the population, and corroborating charges by producing false confessions. Read the rest of this entry »

Clinton says trial shows Iran ‘is afraid of its own people’

Iran’s trial of more than 100 people who it has linked to post-election unrest is a “sign of weakness” and shows that the Islamic republic “is afraid of its own people,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in a wide-ranging interview broadcast on his “GPS” program Sunday, August 9th, 2009.

The Confession:  Ebrahim Nabavi as Mohsen Sazgar

In this video, Ebrahim Nabavi pretends to be Mohsen Sazgara, an opposition leader currently exiled in Washington D.C., as he “confesses” to his crimes against the state.  Nabavi is an Iranian political satirist and former writer for many reformist newspapers.  He is critical of the current regime in Iran.

Several years ago, Nabavi was accused of disgracing the supreme leader and sent to Evin prison. He was then made to “confess” on Iranian TV that he had received money from foreign countries and planned a Velvet Revolution. He was able to eventually leave Iran, and is currently exiled in Belgium.

Torture In Iran

60 Minutes (CBS News) – Originally aired on April 5, 2009. Ahmad Batebi tells CNN’s Anderson Cooper, in his 1st U.S. television interview how he was tortured for 8 years in an Iranian prison and how he managed to escape.

Will Putting Reformists On Trial, End Iranian Opposition?

National Public Radio (Morning Edition) – August 3, 2009

STEVE INSKEEP, host:  “And now let’s turn to the trail being held in Tehran, where more than 100 opposition figures are accused of working with foreigners to undermine the government. We’re going to Borzou Daragahi of the Los Angeles Times. He’s been reporting on Iran for years, and he’s following events from the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Borzou, welcome back to the program.”