NEWS))))))

Dutch freeze official ties with Iran over execution of Zahra Bahrami

The Dutch government on Saturday froze official ties with the Iranian regime after a Dutch-Iranian woman was hanged for alleged cocaine smuggling. The execution of 46-year-old Zahra Bahrami, a self-declared opponent of the Iranian government, was an ’outrage’ carried out by a ’barbaric regime,’ Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said. Prior to Rosenthal’s comments the Iranian ambassador to the Hague had confirmed that the execution took place on Saturday. Bahrami who was visiting her child in Iran, had taken part in protests against the regime of Iranian regime’s President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad in December 2009 and was arrested shortly afterwards. The cocaine-smuggling charges were raised only later on and despite her rejection, she was hanged after enduring more than 70 lashes. Her lawyer was shocked to hear the news for she was expecting the court session would continue over the bogus drug charges.

10 prisoners executed on Thursday

On Thursday January 27, the Iranian regime executed collectively seven prisoners in Karaj’s Qezel-Hessar prison, west of Tehran. Three other prisoners were also hanged in Urumieh Central Prison, northwestern Iran, according to Irna news agency. The number of executions announced by the Iranian regime in the first 27 days of 2011 has reached 89. These numbers are unprecedented in comparison to previous years. The execution of political prisoners under the pretext of ordinary crimes is a well-known tactic used during the clerical regime’s 3-decade long rule.

Zahra Kazemi’s son can sue Iran

Canadian press reported: Quebec’s Superior Court has ruled that Stephan Hashemi alone can sue Iran for the death of his mother, photojournalist Zahra Kazemi. The latest legal battle pitting the family of slain photojournalist Zahra Kazemi against the Iranian government has ended in a draw. ‘We’re delighted that Stephan’s recourse has been allowed to proceed against all the defendants but by the same token we’re disappointed the estate’s recourse has been blocked by the State Immunity Act.’—Kurt Johnson, lawyer for Kazemi family. It’s a mixed result in a case that has been inching its way through Quebec Superior Court since 2006.

The court ruling comes after a battle in which the Iranian government attempted to block the Kazemi family from suing for $17-million — arguing it was immune from legal action in Canada. Iran argued the State Immunity Act prevents foreign governments from being sued civilly on Canadian soil, with very few exceptions. “Mr. Hashemi endured this traumatic prejudice while he was residing in Canada and this is sufficient to trigger the exception,” Mongeon wrote. Kazemi was an Iranian-Canadian citizen who was beaten, raped and killed in 2003 after being arrested for photographing relatives of detainees outside Evin prison in Tehran. She was never formally charged with any crime and was quickly buried in Iran. Stephan Hashemi has tried unsuccessfully to have his mother’s body back in Canada. Ottawa has had shaky relations with Iran since Kazemi’s death and has routinely voiced its displeasure with officials in that country over the handling of the case and their lack of transparency.

NEWS))))))

Iran hangs two activists held in 2009 election demos

Mohammad Ali Hajaghaei (left) - Jafar Kazemi (right)

AFP, Tehran, January 24, 2011 - Iran hanged on Monday two activists it said were members of an exiled group opposed to the 2009 presidential poll result, despite US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging that they be freed.
The executions were the first reported hangings of protesters who staged demonstrations against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a poll they said was rigged.
The Tehran prosecutor’s office named the pair as Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Hajaghaei. It did not say where the two men were hanged.
'Two elements of the Monafeghin (hypocrites) cell named Jafar Kazemi... and Mohammad Ali Hajaghaei... were executed early today,' the prosecutor’s office said on its website, referring to the Iranian exiled opposition group, People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI).
On August 10, Clinton had urged the Iranian authorities to release the two activists. The PMOI is on Washington’s list of foreign terrorist organisations.
The prosecutor’s office said 'these two hypocrites were members of an active network of the said cell and were involved in the riots under the guidance of their ringleader in England.'
'The convicts had resorted to distributing pictures and banners related to the Monafeghins, taking photos and films of the clashes as well as chanting slogans in favour of the cell.'
The 2009 presidential election result triggered widespread anti-government demonstrations in Tehran and some other cities.
Dozens of protesters were killed, scores wounded and thousands jailed when security forces clashed with them after the election result, which Ahmadinejad’s rivals claim was rigged in his favour.
Clinton had urged that those rounded up, including Kazemi and Hajaghaei, be freed.
'We are also concerned about the fate of Iranians who are in danger of imminent execution for exercising their right to free expression after the June 2009 elections,' Clinton said on August 10 in a statement, naming Kazemi and Hajaghaei.
'The United States urges the Iranian government to halt these executions in accordance with its obligations to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and calls for the immediate release of all political prisoners and imprisoned human rights defenders.'
Clinton was referring to the 1966 UN treaty on fundamental freedoms, which Iran ratified before the 1979 Islamic revolution overthrew the pro-Western shah.

Women are now banned from going to theatres!!

National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement yesterday that, Women in Iran are now banned from watching World Cup and Asian Cup soccer matches in theaters, according to the state-affiliated Khabar Online on Thursday. The website said, women, who are already banned from going to stadiums to watch soccer games are now barred from theaters that screen the matches as well. The decision was apparently taken after the Iranian soccer team played against the UAE this week. The game was screened in three theaters in Tehran.

Workers protest outside Gilan Governorate office

100 workers of the Tabriz Construction Factory staged a gathering outside the governorate office in Gilan protesting unpaid wages for 11 months and lack of New Year bonuses. The workers worked in the cold and heat without any food or shelter, without any complaints, yet the Ministry of Transportation and the Transportation Department are never accountable, said one of the workers.

Disappearance of student activist in Abadan’s Oil University

A student activist in Abadan’s Oil University by the name of Hojjat Arab suspiciously has disappeared since Thursday, January 13th. According to Daneshjoo News, on the morning of that same day, security agents raided his residence, confiscated his computer and laptop after searching the house. From noon of Thursday, there has been no news of Hojjat’s whereabouts, and his mobile is turned off. Under a decision made by the university’s dean, Hojjat was expelled from campus and was not allowed to enter the university premises. Moreover, the university’s ‘Discipline Committee’, under the pretext of activities in ‘Facebook’ and discussions in revolution class, issued the highest and unjust ruling for him, being expulsion from the university and banning from taking classes at the university for 3 years. This ruling has been sent to the Ministry of Sciences for confirmation. It’s been since reported that Hojjat Arabi has been found in Abadan detension center.

Suppressive forces kill 11 in Iranian province

The Iranian regime’s state-run media have reported that agents of the suppressive State Security Forces (SSF) have killed 11 people in the country’s eastern border. According to the state-run Tabnak on Wednesday, Amir Ahmad Geravand, the deputy commander of the SSF border guard said at least three were killed in air and ground raids in Saravan region of the Sistan-va-Balouchestan province. Geravand claimed that one of the families who lost a member as a result of the attack sought to take revenge and gathered arms and ammunition. The others, he said, were killed in recent days in border regions.

"Iranium" and it's cancellation in Ottawa

As the Iranian regime intensifies the wave of execution in Iran, the news of the screening cancellation of a documentary film in “Library and Archives Canada” rightfully hits the Canadian media.

On Sunday Jan. 16, 2011 “Iranium”- a documentary revealing the Iranian regime’s atomic ambitions was cancelled after the Iranian regime’s embassy officially opposed it and asked the “Library and Archives Canada” to cancel the screening of the film. For reasons unknown the LAC agreed! Yet the screening of the documentary was postponed to Tuesday. On Tuesday the unidentified and threatening emails the delivery of two suspicious letters to the LAC, forced this center to cancel the film all together. James Moore, minister of Heritage and Jason Kenney, minister of Immigration stepped in. Mr. Moore announced that “the show will go on” and he would not allow the Iranian embassy to dictate Canada.

The question that comes to mind is that how the Iranian regime has become so impudent that it can use threats to bully a Canadian institution. For years the Iranian embassy has infiltrated Canada’s democracy by its affiliates to pursue its agenda. The Mullahs embassy as such has seeded its affiliates into political scene (Iranian embassy and Canada’s Green party: http://iranianembassyandthegreenparty.blogspot.com/), and opening a so called Cultural Center in Ottawa to spy on Iranian dissidents, and misinforming the Canadian authorities to limit the dissident’s and opposition’s activities against the Iranian regime.

Even though the Iranian-Canadians has revealed Mullah’s attempts but the Iranian regime through its embassy has continued its activities and has used whatever tool deemed necessary to reach its goals. And now that the so called Khatami’s (former president of the regime) “talks among civilizations” doesn’t cut it anymore, they use Ahmadinejad’s ways by threatening and hoping to transfer its oppressed culture into Canada. The Iranian regime may have hoped that the Canadian police arrest the director and he would face the same fate as the Iranian director Jafar Panahi.

Fortunately the Canadian government has stood its ground. What has to be asked is why and how Canada has let this anti democratic regime to become so valiant to continue bullying? And wondering what source is feeding misleading information about the Iranian dissidents to Canadian authorities such as CISIS and the RCMP? Why the dissidents of a regime which has been condemned repeatedly over its human rights violations by Canada, is labelled as terrorists while the Mullahs continue their terrorist and espionage activities in Canada and elsewhere?

For years the Iranian dissidents have been under the watch full eye of intelligent organizations such as CISIS and the RCMP, particularly and due to misleading information trickled by the Iranian regime. In some cases CISIS and the RCMP have been the tools for the Iranian regime to oppress the Iranian dissidents in Canada. When Canada’s intelligent agencies trust those misleading information, it signals the Mullahs that there’s room to manoeuvre and that they have the green light to intensify the pressure on Iranian dissidents. It is a known fact that the Iranian regime through families such as Rafsanjani’s and others had poured so much of the Iranian people’s stolen money into Canadian economy that it has blinded our officials.

Undoubtedly with the Iranian embassy’s latest attempt to threat a Canadian institution it has finally forced Canada to stand up to that regime and say NO. The behaviour of the Iranian embassy officials which reveals the true face behind the beautiful mask and accusing Canada of being “one sided” will not raise pity but will shine more light on the dictatorship atmosphere in Iran for Canada and its citizens to see.

Narges Ghaffari

Jan. 20, 2011

Irava turns 16

I'd like to thank you, our listeners for being with us through the past 16 years and supporting Irava, the first Persian radio show in Ottawa.

Thank you

NEWS))))))

A Kurdish Political prisoner Hossein Khezri was executed on sat.

The sentence has been carried out while various news agencies had stated that he was going to be executed soon. Khezri had been held in prison limbo and his family was concerned about his condition. According to RAHANA, his sentence has been carried out in the Oroumiyeh Prison. Islamic republic News Agency has reported that a terrorist member of PJAK has been executed. His death sentence was held in the judiciary of Oroumiyeh Prison. Khezri was detained on August 1, 2008 in Kermanshah by the IRGC officials and was interrogated until mid February. He was then transferred to Oroumiyeh and his only court session was held in the Oroumiyeh Revolutionary Court. His trial lasted 10 minutes and he was charged with anti-regime propaganda and collaborating with anti-regime groups. The 10th branch of Western Azerbaijan upheld the sentence in August of 2009 and the verdict was delivered to him in prison. Accoriding to reports with the execution of Hossein Khezri the Iranian regime continues its brutal campaign of terror and repression, designed to break the resistance of dissidents who stand against the dictatorship. As the regime continues to implement massive economic subsidy cuts, it hopes to quell any notion of dissent or opposition by continual executions especially against members of organized opposition groups, including PJAK and PMOI. The Iranian regime’s Prisons Organization intends to step up pressures and inhumane treatment of political prisoners through the adoption of new regulations, the Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran has reported. Prison rules are undergoing changes to incorporate extensive provisions allowing more inhumane treatment of the prisoners. The rules have been approved by Sadeq Larijani, the regime’s judiciary chief, who oversees the prison system. The regime’s torturers and henchmen in prisons had been calling for broader authorities in order to legalize more torture methods. Currently, political prisoners in Iran are subjected to systematic and severe psychological and physical tortures by the Iranian regime. The clerical regime has also intensified executions. Over 75 people have been executed in Iran in less than a month, according to reports.

International call to release Iranian lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh

In a suppressive decision, Mrs. Nasrin Sotoudeh, lawyer of political prisoners in Iran, has been sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment, 20 year ban on leaving the country, and 20 year ban on practicing law. She was charged with “collaborating against state security, propaganda against the establishment, and not observing hejab (the regime’s dress code) while delivering speech.” Mrs. Sotoudeh, mother of two children of 3 and 10 years of age, has been held in solitary confinements in Ward 209 of Tehran’s Evin Prison since her arrest on September 5, 2010. In other news Europe’s foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton on Tuesday called for the repeal of a six-year jail sentence and 20-year ban on film-making against prominent Iranian director Jafar Panahi. Ashton said the December sentences, coupled with bans on giving interviews and travelling abroad, would prevent Panahi from “exercising his fundamental right to freedom of expression”, enshrined in the international rights code to which Iran is a party. Panahi, 50, was sentenced to jail for “propaganda against the system” after making a film about unrest in Iran after the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009. In support of Panahi Hollywood shines light on director's sentencing in Iran. Paul Haggis urges stars to wear white ribbons in support of directors Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof, sentenced to six years in prison.

NEWS))))))

Nasrin Sotoudeh Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison, Banned From Practicing Law & Leaving Country for 20 Years

The Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR) – Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court with Judge PirAbassi has sentenced Nasrin Sotoudeh (lawyer) to 11 years in prison and banned her from practicing law and leaving the country for 20 years. Reza Khandan, Sotoudeh’s husband told CHRR, “This sentence was delivered to my wife’s lawyer Nasim Ghanavi and now we have 20 days to request an appeal.” According to Khandan, the sentence was issued even though Nasrin Sotoudeh was expecting a lighter sentence and she was in good spirits during the last visitation. Khandan added, “My wife received one year imprisonment for “propaganda against the regime”, a total of ten years for the two charges “acting against national” and “violating the Islamic dress code (Hijab) in a filmed speech”. Other reports indicate that Nasim Ghanavi and Reza Khandan were summoned to the Revolutionary Court. Khandan said, “I was asked to appear in branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court. In the written summon, the word “defendant” was used when referring to me. Of course, I was also summoned about ten to twelve days before my wife’s arrest. At that time I was warned about the interviews I had given.” Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested on September 22, 2010 and has been in solitary confinement since. Her trial took place on November 15th in branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court with Judge PirAbassi. She was initially charged with “acting against national security” and “propaganda against the regime.” The charge of “violating the Islamic dress code in a filmed speech” was later added on. Sotoudeh has spent a large portion of her incarceration on hunger strike. Nasrin Sotoudeh is a lawyer and the winner of the Human Rights Award from the International Human Rights Organization. She is also a member of the Defenders of Human Rights, the One Million Signatures Campaign to Change Discriminatory Laws Against Women, and the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child. In her capacity as a legal councillor, Sotoudeh has represented many human rights activists, women’s rights activists, child victims, victims of child abuse, and children risking execution. In 2008, Sotoudeh was awarded the Human Rights prize by the International Committee on Human Rights.

At least 70 killed in Iranian passenger plane crash

(Reuters) – At least 70 people were killed and 35 injured when an Iranian Boeing 727 passenger plane crashed in bad weather in north-western Iran on Sunday, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent said. Mahmoud Mozafar told Reuters that many of the injured were in a bad condition. He said 106 people, 12 crew members and 94 passengers were on board the Iran Air plane when it crashed. Another Red Crescent official, Heidar Heidari, told the state news agency IRNA, that the “death toll is expected to increase.” Earlier, Iranian media gave different accounts of the number of people on board the plane, which some officials said crashed just before landing at the airport in the city of Urumiyeh. One official said 50 people were rescued and that rescue operations were being hampered by snow and fog in the area. Mozafar told state television “the plane was smashed into pieces but did not explode.” Shahrokh Nioushabadi, a spokesman for Iran’s national airline, Iran Air, told the semi-official Mehr news agency that two children were among the passengers. State television said the Iran Air plane was en route from the capital Tehran to Urumiyeh. The last major air crash in Iran was in July 2009 when a Caspian Airlines Tupolev aircraft bound for Armenia caught fire in mid-air and crashed into farmland near the city of Qazvin, killing all 168 people on board. One of the country’s worst air accidents happened in February 2003 when an Iranian Ilyushin-76 troop carrier crashed in southeast Iran, killing all 276 Revolutionary Guard soldiers and crew aboard.

Iranian regime targets Christians with a wave of arrests

The Wall Street Journal, reported that the Iranian authorities have arrested dozens of Christians in the two weeks since Christmas, the latest challenge to the Mideast’s small but vibrant Christian communities. The arrests around the country appear focused on individuals who have converted from Islam or sought to convert others from Islam—actions considered sins under Islamic law and punishable by death in Iran. Tehran’s governor, Morteza Tamadon, confirmed there have been detentions and said more arrests were on the way, state media reported.

******

According to reports received by “Human Rights and Democracy in Iran” the Iranian regime is planning the executions of political prisoners Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Aghai on Tuesday, the 11th of January. At this time, the signs and evidence surrounding the case point to the date of the 11th of January as the date for implementation of their sentences. Mr. Kazemi’s family was informed last week that the case of Jafar Kazemi has been referred to the execution branch of the Revolutionary Court and is awaiting confirmation.

“Spain’s Courage: Holding Iraq Accountable”

Huffington Post reported on January 7, 2011: the Government of Spain--has shown humanitarian concern about the plight of 3,400 Iranians in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. On January 4, 2011, an Investigative Court of the Spanish National Court summoned Iraq’s Lt. Gen. Abdul-Hussein Shemmari to appear in Spain on March 8, 2011, or face charges of complicity in murder for having directed an assault on 3,400 Iranians who are supporters of the Mujahedeen Khalq (MEK). The attack on Camp Ashraf directed by the Lt. Gen. Shemmari left 11 dead and 500 wounded. Today, the people in Camp Ashraf are beset, day and night by 180 blaring loudspeakers urging them to end their struggle and return to Iran--there to face death. Iraq has also constrained food deliveries and medical services to Camp Ashraf. The Iraqi forces and the agants of the Iranian regime on Friday once again attacked the camp by throwing rocks and sharp glasses over the fence, wounding 175 men and women of Ashraf.