We must keep up the pressure to have the political prisoners in Iran freed June 28, 2009

I have just been to The Atlantic where Andrew Sullivan has been live blogging from Twitter. The news that I have seen is not good at all. It has been reported that the following people have been arrested:

• Persiankiwi
• 
  
• Mohammedali Abtahi
• Saeed Hajariyan
• Ali Mosleh
• Somaye Tohidloo
• 
  
• Ahmad Zeydabadi
• 
  

These people have not committed any crime. The only thing that they have done is to get news out to the the outside world about what is taking place inside Iran. It is not good news that they have been arrested because the regime is known for its harsh treatment of political prisoners.  Some of them turn up in the Tehran morgue marked as unidentified so that they will not release their badly beaten bodies to grieving relatives. This was the fate of one student activist murdered by the regime.

People are being arrested for doing things like visiting the site where Neda was murdered by a member of the Basij, or for going to her gravesite, and carrying a green sign. There have been several women arrested. These women need our prayers and our help because if they end up in Evin prison or elsewhere they will be tortured. The fact that they have been arrested means that they now have a criminal record, which will put an end to their studies or jobs.

Even worse than refusing to hand over the body to grieving relatives is the demand for a bullet tax for thousands of dollars so that grieving relatives can bury their dead. On top of that insult, the regime is demanding that their is no public mourning, and in the case of Neda’s parents, they were told to move from their apartment.

It is up to us, in the free world to start putting on the pressure on our own governments to at least stop dealing with Iran in an effort to see an end to the violence and bloodshed. There is no doubt that the Khamenei-Ahmadinejad regime in Iran is illegal. There is no doubt that there was, as one ex-Iranian guard member has stated that there has been a military coup after the election was held and before Ahmadinejad, the defeated President of Iran, was declared the winner. It must be kept in mind that Ahmadinejad planned this coup back in 2005, and that it had the approval of Khamenei and the Guardian Council. It is all about power.

This regime is now totally discredited and it is now up to the leaders of all the free world governments to announce sanctions against this illegal Iranian regime. Any sanctions imposed will support the people in their struggle to be freed from the tyranny of these old mullahs. We need to start putting on the pressure for the sake of those young and not so young lives, for all who have been prepared to seek that regime change.

Neda was murdered by the Basij and the Iranian regime June 22, 2009

I have been watching intensely the situation in Iran that has erupted after the coup perpetrated by Ahmanutjob and Khamenei (who is also a believer in the 12th Iman). The people know that they were defrauded because they did not vote for Ahmadinejad, such that when Khamenei makes claims like the big turnout was in favour of Ahmanutjob they are ready to continue their waves of protests despite the not so veiled threats to beware the consequences. They have sent the Basij into the streets to bash the protesters with their batons. Some in plainclothes have weapons. There are sharpshooters on buildings, taking aim and murdering people on the streets (this is probably the one thing that reminds people of what took place at Kent University when six students were killed). One of the victims of the Basij, a girl, an innocent bystander was Neda, and she was standing on a street corner, away from the protesters when a Basij took aim and shot her through the heart.

I am not going to place the pictures of Neda on this blog, and I am not going to place the video of her death on my blog, but I am linking to other blogs that are covering the story. One blog is Paul Coelho, the author, who is also blogging for the Iranians. He has a friend, a doctor, who was at the scene when Neda died. It was Paul’s friend who has provided the witness account of Neda’s death, testifying that it was the Basij that killed her – the Basij was on the rooftop, not on a drive-by motorcycle as some have reported.

I hope that Paul will not mind if I copy a few comments from his blog and repeat them here, because these brave Iranians are telling their story, and I think that more people need to hear from the doctors not just from Tehran, but from other cities in Iran where there has been protests and violence caused by the regime, not the protesters:

Hi

I`m from Shiraz , the city you once came in.Neda ` death was shocking for all of us in Iran. We witnessed 2 days ago the brutal beatting of an old lady near Shiraz Univercity by police. My sister in law was beatten badly 4 days ago with batune in the street and I as a doctor personally had a hard time treating 2 other victims of these brutalities. We feel raped by the goverment. It feels bad , very bad witnessing these things and only you can shout God is the Great at 10 pm every night. Because we are not worriors , we can not beating or killing these dictators , we only can tell them that we are here ,alive and alert. We love our country , we wish for it a future that contains hope for our children. A country that respects dignity of every human apart from relligious barriers.
This week I had 2 ways to rise hope for myself. First pray to god , second reading your 2 books : Zahir and Valkyries . They gave my the motivation to resist the waves of govermental propaganda who tries to kill our hope. I think the feeling of not being alone in this world, and following our dreams to the end is what you told me by your book. I appreciate that . Neda and Nedas are killing or beatten here for following the dream of a nation : FREEDOME .

God bless you.
IRAN
SHIRAZ

They tried to silence the protests and they killed Neda. Her name which is really significant as a call to justice, will live on as the spirit of the protest. We will not forget Neda. Her life here on earth is ended but her voice will not be silenced as she becomes the voice of all who are now standing up to both Khamenei the dictator and Ahmadinejad the defeated President who has staged a coup to seize and retain power.