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Political prisoner Ali Sarami hanged after 24 years incarceration

According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s statement, Ali Sarami, 63, member of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), was hanged at dawn on Tuesday, December 28, 2010, after 24 years of incarceration under the clerical and Shah’s rule.

After the 1975 revolution Sarami was arrested four times. The last time he was arrested was in August 2007 during a ceremony marking the anniversary of massacre of political prisoners. After the Ashura uprising in December 2009, he was sentenced to death. The statement adds: “The regime’s Revolutionary Prosecutor described Sarami’s charge as “publicity activities against the sacred rule of Islamic Republic.” He wrote: “He visited Ashraf and during that he received necessary trainings and returned to the country… and eventually he was arrested in August 2007 for his repeated activities and participation in counter revolutionary ceremonies and gatherings in support of PMOI and dispatching reports to this grouplet (PMOI). During a search in his house some CDs, films, pictures from PMOI and hand written organizational documents linked to the grouplet were found and confiscated.”

The henchmen of the regime subjected Sarami to the most brutal torture and pressures until his last days in a bid to break his resistance, but despite all his ailments and intolerable prison conditions, he stood firm on the ideal of freedom and liberation for the people of Iran and did not yield.

When receiving his death sentence he said: 'They cannot frighten me and my freedom-loving compatriots by execution and hanging... The only reason for such sentences is their fear of their own unstable state'. Following Ali Sarami’s execution, his daughter was arrested by the regime’s henchmen outside Evin Prison in Tehran. The Iranian regime also hanged Ali Akbar Siadat another political prisoner. This action brought outrage to Iranians everywhere. Since the news of Sarami and Siadat’s executions the Iranians gathered in front of the regime’s embassies around the world. On Wednesday the Iranian-Canadians staged a protest in front of the Iranian embassy.

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Execution of Habibollah Latifi did not carried out

Freedom messenger said that according to the reliable sources in Iran, execution of the political prisoner Habiollah Latifi, who was scheduled to take place early this morning, has been postponed. Habibollah Latifi’s lawyer and family have confirmed the news. Since the news of his scheduled execution became known to the public, a campaign was started by the activists inside and outside of Iran to save his life. There were several gatherings in protest against the scheduled execution in different cities around the world. According to some sources, last night, about 300 people gathered in protest outside the Sanandaj prison, where he was being held. Latifi’s family have thanked all the people who took part in this campaign and said: “We now know that your efforts will give results and that our Habibollah is not alone”. Amnesty International urged the Iranian regime to stop the Kurd execution. Protests in Solamanieh and Paris were among some activities of Iranians who are opposed to Habibollah’s execution. At least seven people were executed on Christmas day in Iran.

Iranian man whipped in public for drinking alcohol

Reuters reported that an Iranian man was given 80 lashes in public for drinking alcohol, ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday, a punishment aimed at discouraging others from such behaviour outlawed in the Islamic Republic. Under Iran’s Islamic law, alcohol is banned and its consumption can be punishable by lashes. ISNA said the lashes were delivered in a public square in the city of Ramshir, south-western Iran.

Eleven Baluchi Citizens Executed in Zahedan

Rahana reported: Sistan-Baluchistan provincial justice department announced that 11 individuals have been executed who were “related to” and “supporters of” Jundollah. In a statement Sistan-Baluchistan provincial justice department said the executed were involved in terrorist operations and they had been charged with being enemies of God, corrupting the earth and fighting against the “holy Islamic Republic.” Their sentences were carried out after the supreme judicial bodies approved them.

Merry Christmas

Happy Yald

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Iran’s ruling cut in fuel and food aid raises protest fears

The Iranian regime has cut energy and food subsidies, risking a repeat of angry protests which followed fuel rationing in 2007. The cuts, introduced on Sunday, mean a four-fold rise in the price of petrol and reduced subsidies for bread. Each car will get 60 litres of fuel per month at a subsidised price of 40 cents per litre, up from 10 cents per litre. In 2007, protesters set alight dozens of petrol stations after the system of fuel rationing was introduced. News agency reports on Sunday said that there was a heavy policy presence in the capital Tehran, but there were no reports of trouble. Iranian regime’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that the cuts in subsidies were the “biggest surgery” to the economy in 50 years. Ahmadinejad also said his government was paying $4bn in bread subsidies, which are being gradually phased out.

Canada demands Iran release Bahai leaders

Associated France Press reported on Dec. 17, that Canada’s top diplomat on Friday renewed his condemnation of Tehran over the imprisonment of seven Bahai leaders and called for their immediate release. ’I note with regret the reports that Iranian authorities are continuing the imprisonment of the seven Bahai community leaders whose 10-year sentence was announced in September 2010,’ Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said.
’These individuals have been held without cause for 28 months in harsh conditions at Gohardasht Prison. The accusations against them reflect a deliberate distortion of their religion and their service to the community. ’Canada maintains that any imprisonment on such charges is too long and that these individuals should be released unconditionally and reunited with their families as soon as possible,’ Cannon said in a statement. The seven were arrested in May 2008 and put on trial in January this year on charges including spying for foreigners, spreading corruption, undermining Islam and cooperating with Israel. Bahai leaders believe 47 followers of their religion are imprisoned in Iran because of their beliefs.

Three charged in scheme to send money to Iran

Reuters reported on December 17 that three people were charged on Thursday with conspiring to defraud the United States and launder money in a scheme that prosecutors said sent $1.8 million to Iran. Married couple Hossein Lahiji, 47 of McAllen, Texas and Najmeh Vahid, 35 of San Antonio Texas, along with Ahmad Iranshahi, 53, of Tehran, Iran were charged in the two count indictment, according to an announcement. 'These defendants are charged with going to extraordinary lengths to conceal the transfer of large sums of money in violation of the trade restrictions with Iran that have been in place for well over a decade,' Dwight Holton, U.S. Attorney in Portland said in a statement. The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering could carry a 20-year prison term and a $500,000 fine. The charge of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. could bring five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The indictment alleges that the defendants transferred $1.8 million in supposed donations to a Portland charity called The Child Foundation from 1995 to at least 2008. The funds were then invested in Iran in violation of the embargo of Iran. The two 'retained interest and control in Iran over a significant part of the transferred funds,' the statement says. But, the two claimed them as charitable deductions on their U.S. tax returns. The Child Foundation, listed as a co-conspirator, allegedly worked with the Iranian government. Founders of The Child Foundation 'consulted with and sought approval, support and monetary assistance' from 'the Hizballah brothers, Iranian diplomats, Iranian ayatollahs and other Iranian governmental representatives,' the indictment alleges. The indictment also charges that Iranshahi and the Child Foundation 'would split the proceeds of certain donations with Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi.' The Child Foundation 'helps children living in poverty to remain in school,' the Portland group’s web site says. Hengameh Kazemi, the charity’s accountant said no restrictions have been placed on the group as a result of the investigation. 'I cannot get into any detail. This is an ongoing investigation,' she said. 'It is imperative that the donating public have confidence that charities providing overseas services, are operating in compliance with all applicable U.S. laws,' Holton said. The trio allegedly used Swiss bank accounts and claimed that some transactions were food commodities exempt from the embargo as part of their scheme. There were allegedly investments made in buildings, office equipment and vehicles in Iran. The two Texas residents are scheduled to surrender and appear in court in San Antonio next week. Iranshahi, a resident of Iran, is a fugitive. The United States has maintained a strict embargo on nearly all trade with Iran since 1995. The administration of President Barack Obama is trying to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Iranian regime's attempt to score political points with its critics over the tragic death of a 16 year old Yazdan Ghiasi in Ottawa

CBC tv: Dec. 13,2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDEk6GEuDwA

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Iran: Protests by university students in different cities

On Student Day in Iran, students at Free University of Qazvin staged a demonstration in ’Ghalam’ and ’Sa’at’ squares while chanting ’Death to the dictator’ and ’Allahu Akbar’. The demonstration was supported and welcomed by local residents, especially the employees of government offices near the university. The agents of the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) attacked the students in order to arrest some of them, but they were faced with the students’ protest and slogans. In Esfahan the students at Esfahan University of Technology clashed with suppressive forces. A female student called Mina Saadat was arrested. Bassij agents who had occupied the university campus since Saturday checked the students’ IDs and questioned them. Also in western city of Yasouj, 20 students were arrested for defending three female students who had been insulted by the regime’s agents under the pretext of mal-veiling.

Iran State TV: Woman Facing Stoning Not Freed From Jail

Fox News reported on December 10 that hopes that a woman who was sentenced to death by stoning in Iran for adultery had been allowed to walk free were dashed Friday when Iran TV said Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani had temporarily been allowed to go home only for filming purposes. A German-based campaign group said late Thursday that Mohammadi Ashtiani had been released along with her son and lawyer after photographs of her on home leave appeared in the media. 'Contrary to a vast publicity campaign by Western media that confessed murderer Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has been released, a broadcast production team with the Iran-based Press TV has arranged with Iran’s judicial authorities to follow Ashtiani to her house to produce a visual recount of the crime at the murder scene,' Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, was sentenced to death by two different courts in the northwestern city of Tabriz in separate trials in 2006. A sentence to hang for her involvement in the murder of her husband was commuted to a 10-year jail term by an appeals court in 2007. But a second sentence to death by stoning on charges of adultery leveled over several relationships, notably with the man convicted of her husband’s murder, was upheld by another appeals court the same year. Sakineh’s current lawyer, Javid Houtan Kian, was arrested in the northwestern city of Tabriz in September along with two Germans journalists who were conducting an interview with her son.

Man sentenced to be blinded with acid by Iranian court

The supreme court of the Iranian regime has upheld a sentence of blinding with acid for a man who blinded his lover’s husband, under the Islamic “eye-for-an-eye” justice code, a government daily said.

EU’s Ashton refused to appear in joint press conference with Jalili after nuclear talks

The European Union’s foreign policy chief refused to attend a joint press conference with the Iranian regime’s envoy after the nuclear talks on Tuesday. An Iranian state-run news agency, Khabar Online, noted Catherine Ashton’s decision and said, “Despite the fact that both sides had decided that upon an agreement among 5+1 countries, Ashton would attend a joint press conference with Saeed Jalili, the Iranian representative in the negotiations, the western side backed out of the decision.” Afterwards, the Iranian regime’s envoy, Saeed Jalili, criticized the EU foreign policy chief’s statement and said it ran counter to the substance of the negotiations.

A 16 year old Iranian boy killed and dumped on the street in Ottawa
Yazdan Ghiasvand Ghiasi, 16 year old student of the Notre Dame Catholic High School was shot and killed on Monday Dec.8, 2010 and his body was dumped on Booth St. at 10:30am in Ottawa. Police said the shooting was not gang related even though Ghiasi was known to the 3 men arrested. The Ottawa police have arrested 3 young men ages 18, 19 and 20 in connection to Ghiasi's death. Friends and family of Yazdan say that he was involved in sport specially tae kwon do. He wanted to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. According to the local CBC news, Ghiasi's family fled Iran when Yazdan was a todler. A witness said to police that he saw a young man getting into a car. Shortly after he heard a "pop, pop" he saw the door opened and the young man was tossed outside. He tried to stop the car but it sped off. Ghiasi's family burried their son on Thursday at the Beechwood cemetery. Also a vigil was held at the scene on Thursday night for the victim. Police charged Abdulhamid Wehbe, 20, with second-degree murder and Khaled Wehbe, 19, and Zakaria Dourhnou, 18, were each charged with being an accessory after the fact. The Ottawa police believe there are more people who have vital information about the brazen daylight killing of a 16-year-old Ottawa boy, and investigators are urging them to come forward by calling 613- 236-1222 ext. 5493 or Crime Stoppers at 613-233-8477(TIPS).