NEWS))))))

Eighteen executions in two days in Iran

Fars state run news agency cited public prosecutor in Tehran as saying that 14 people were executed in Tehran and qezel Hessar. 4 individuals were also executed in Sari, Kermanshah and Sanandaj (western Iran). During the past two weeks, the Iranian regime has implemented collective executions during which a total of 37 in Tehran, Kermanshah, Yazd, Lakan, Rasht, Sanandaj and Aradabil have been executed. 

 

Mansour Radpour, an activist of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran was slain in notorious Gohardasht prison

According to National Council of Resistance of Iran’s statement on May 22^nd, Mansour Radpour, a political prisoner and an activist of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), died in Gohardasht prison on Monday, May 21 after five years of imprisonment and resisting under tortures in prisons.  He was 44- years old and father of two. Accordهng to NCRI Mr. Mansour Radpour was a long time supporter of the PMOI. He was a building painter. He traveled to Ashraf in February 2007 and was captured few months later on May 17 as he was filming the protest of workers in Chalous-Karaj Highway. He was transferred to secret captivity center of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) and was immediately put under torture.  He was put on trial in a kangaroo court for alleged propaganda against the regime and support for the PMOI. He was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment but the MOIS agents once again increased his sentence to another 5 years of imprisonment. His daughter and wife are saying that they do not believe he died of stroke as the prison officials are claiming. His daughter said in an interview that she has seen his bruised body and that is not as a result of stroke.

Security forces shot two passengers of a car to death

Harana reported on May 15, that according to reports, under the pretext of suspicion of smuggling, the security forces shot at a car in Hamedan-Malayer road and killed one passenger with the name of Mojtaba Zahedi and heavily wounded another one with the name of Heiva Fathi who died after a few hours in the hospital. This happened on Sunday May 13 by the security forces.
According to this report, hundreds of Sanandaj People attended Fathi’s funeral and expressed their wrath and hatred against the Iranian regime.

Iran detains protestors supporting saving of Lake Urmia

Mass protests against the authorities’ indifference to the fate of drying out Lake Urmia were held in the Iranian cities of Tabriz and Urmia on May 21.
According to the Association for the Defence of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran (ADAPP), the police used bikes, rubber batons, then plastic bullets and tear gas to disperse the protesters. According to the group, during clashes with security forces in Tabriz and Urmia more than 100 people were detained. Similar events took place in the same cities last year. Then too, dozens of Azerbaijani activists were arrested and punished. The area of Lake Urmia is about 6000 square kilometres. During bird migration the lake becomes their temporary haven. Due to prolonged drought what happens in the Urmia shallows, affects the flora and fauna of the surrounding region. Environmental specialists noted that measures taken by the Iranian government are not enough to rescue the lake. Currently, each litre of water in Lake Urmia contains 330 grams of salt. Previously, the figure stood at 160-170 grams per litre. Increase in the salt concentration is due to the fact that one-third of the lake dried up and actually turned into salt marshes.

14 executions in Iran

Tehran prosecutor’s office said fourteen people were executed in the capital city at dawn on Monday allegedly for trafficking and possessing narcotics. Their identities or specific details about their case were not released. According to Amnesty International, more than 600 people are believed to have been executed in Iran in 2011. At least 488 of them were executed for alleged drug offenses, a nearly threefold increase from the 2009 figures, when at least 166 executions took place for similar offenses.

Iran’s gay community subjected to horrifying treatment: study

The first ever report on Iran’s Lesbian, Gay and transexual community has revealed that these people lived under social and state repression, with some forced to exile or even sentenced to death. According to The Guardian, the study conducted by Small Media, a non-profit group based in London revealed that punishment for mosahegheh or (lesbianism) was 100 lashes, but it could lead to death penalty if the act is repeated four times. The study also said that though transsexuality was legalised in Iran in 1987, “the social stigma attached to trans-sexualism was unwavering and transphobic abuse was prevalent”. Homosexuality is punishable by death, according to fatwas issued by almost all Iranian clerics.

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, May 25, 5:58 PM

Inspectors have located radioactive traces at an Iranian underground bunker, the U.N. atomic agency said Friday — a finding that could mean Iran has moved closer to reaching the uranium threshold needed to arm nuclear missiles. In a report obtained by The Associated Press, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it was asking Tehran for a full explanation. But the report was careful to avoid any suggestion that Iran was intentionally increasing the level of its uranium enrichment, noting that Tehran said a technical glitch was responsible.