News Update - January 13, 2010

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News Links

Iran vs. China in Cyber War

Five Prison Terms confirmed: one to six years for participating in protests, running a web site

Ahmadinejad: Iran in 3 years will not have poor & unemployed (Farsi)

Family of the assassinated Tehran U. professor have issued a statement

The Greening of Islam

Students Say Assassinated Iranian Professor Was Government Critic

Abu Nasser Identified Near Tehran Explosion

Dr. Ali-Mohammadi had collected professors' signatures to protest Tehran U. dorm tragedy (Farsi)

Karoubi’s Life in Danger

Woman political prisoner Shirin Alam-Hoei sentenced to life in prison

The Islamic Republic`s Fear of Women Activists

Stoning Sentences Upheld for Two Citizens in a Case of Adultery

Iran speaker accuses Obama of state terrorism

The Fight is Over 2 Views on Leadership

Fear of Execution for Bahai Leaders

Language to Deport Iranians from US dropped from STEP Act

From Tweets

- Court of Appeals overturned sentence of 7 years & 73 lashings of Soheil Navidi-Yekta & exonerated him of all charges.

- Moslem Arefi & Poya Mirzai members of campaign 88 in Kermanshah have been released.

- Zoya Hassani member of Participation Front campaign 88 youth group arrested after Ashura has been released.

- Lawyer for high profile reformists said his clients were arrested with a generic warrant dated 4 days before election.

- Evidence that the coup was preplanned: Generic warrant for arrest signed by Mortazavi dated 4 days before election.

- Court of Appeals reduced the sentence of Akbar Ajdadi by 4 months giving him 2 years & 4 months sentence.

- Akbar Ajdadi arrested at work on 7/27, spent 45 days in Sepah 2-A in Evin(the worst) than moved to ward 240.

- 20 year old Akbar Ajdadi was the sole income earner 4 his family. His family now is in terrible financial shape.

- The files for 7 prisoners have been sent to revolutionary court: Isa Saharkhiz, Mohammad Reza Rajabi,... (cont'd)

- Davoud Soleimani, Azar Mansouri, Mehdi Mahmoudian, Hadi Arab-Ghobadi & Amir-Ali Aghayari.

- Status & reason for arrest of THN Polytechnich student Kaveh Amin Elahi arrested Jan 6 is still unknown.

- MP Motaheri has requested AG Larijani to expedite Mortazavi's case, apparently he also has a pending case from before.

- MP Motaheri asking how come someone with a pending case & named in Kahrizak case hasn't lost his license.

- MP Motaheri also is questioning Mortazavi's appointment by Ahmadinejad as head of drugs & goods smuggling bureau.

- Status & whereabouts of Beheshti UNI student Armin Golchin arrested on Ashura is still unknown.

- 1/2 Mohamad Taghi Khalji a clergy close to Ayatollah Montazeri & Ayatollah Sanei has been arrested in Qom.

- 2/2 Reason for arresting Khalji is not know, his computer, CD's, documents & passport was confiscated.

- Still no news from member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters Meherdad Rahimi arrested 13 dys ago.

- According to Kayhan, Dr Mohammadi had an interview with Kayhan after he was assassinated & blamed Mossad 4 his death, Not made up news.

- They now have admitted to arresting 700 people on Ashura between the police force & Intel ministry.

- Last month large group of plainclothes thugs attacked Mashhad UNI with knives, chains & machetes. Many were injured.

- There are unconfirmed reports that at least 1 student died during the attack on Mashhad UNI. Info is being suppressed.

- 15 Mashhad Azad UNI have been expelled for 2 terms. Some are still in prison & could not defend themselves.

- 210 Azad UNI, 10 Ferdowsi UNI, 35 Khayam UNI were arrested recently. Many have been released on bail.

- Regime has cracked down hard on students of Mashhad universities in recent months.

- There were attempts to arrest editors of some major green websites today.

- Mahdeih Golrou & her husband were arrested on Dec 2 after being raider by 10 Min. of intel agents.

- After 40 days in solitary, Mahdieh Golrou & husband Vahid La'lipour were transferred to 2-person cells in ward 209.

- Speaker Larijani said they had info that CIA & Mosad were planning terrorist attack in Iran.

- Kurdish political prisoner Shirin Alamhoi-Rokan has been sentenced to life, charged with Moharebeh & armed resistance.

- A man & a woman have been sentenced to death by stoning in northwest Iran.

Misc. Sources

- The continuation of illegal detention of Shahpour Kazemi, Brother of Zahra Rahnavard and brother-in-law of Mir Hossein Mousavi: Shahour Kazemi is still in Evin prison. He was arrested for the second time since the election in the new wave of arrests after the Bloody Ashura. In the past two weeks he only called his moth...er once from the prison. The second arrest of Kazemi is also illegal and was done without any legitimate or legal justification. Kazemi has not been politically active. Previously He was arrested seven months ago right after the election coup and was released after few months under heavy bail. His arrests with the aim of putting pressure on Mir Hossein Mousavi.

- Iranian university professors, scholars and intellectuals living abroad in an open letter expressed their firm support for Mir Hossein Mousavi’s proposed solutions laid out in his statement #17. In this letter they called Mousavi’s statement #17 as “a step toward the consistency of the Green Movement” and stated that “In this statement Mousavi by avoiding general topics presented a minimum political platform with specific demands from the government.” These university professors and scholars stated that Mousavi’s statement #17 has “fundamental proposals” which in their view “general agreement over these suggestions” can “have a significant influence in unifying and harmonising people’s peaceful movement.”

In the views of those who signed this letter the “most significant parts” of Mousavi’s statement are “the four sections related to free elections and the preconditions for having free elections: including the release of all political prisoners, free and independent press and media, and the emphasis on the rights of forming political parties and holding gatherings.” They also stated that “Mousavi’s statement was issued just on time and was able to, at least for a short time, create a separation among the ruling of powers and therefore delay their violent projects.” In another part of this letter it reads: “Mousavi while giving the priority to the democratic movement of the people of Iran proved that for advancing the demands of this movement is ready to negotiate with the ruling powers. His indirect position regarding the “legal” removal of Ahmadinejad through the parliament is a signature of these democratic tendencies.” At the end the university professors and intellectuals stressed that “ the social-political movement of the people of Iran, in a future not too far, will follow an extensive democratic roadmap; a plan that will eliminate the current restrictions and the citizen rights of each and every Iranian, from every ethnicity and gender, will be honoured.”

Photos

Ahmadinejad wearing a green scarf (Nice try, Ahmadinejad, you're not fooling us)

Video