October 6, 2010

UPDATE ON IRAN - OCT. 6, 2010

The Beginning of the End of the Clerical Rule in Iran
No. 713


Downfall

Iran tries to belittle nationwide strikes
Oct. 4, 2010
The head of Iran’s Markets Council called the nationwide strikes of gold sellers in Iran ‘a measure by a few gold merchants in closing their shops’ and claimed that the markets in general ‘oppose this illegal and arbitrary measure of this group’ and will not accept their so-called ‘petty fights’.



Latest news of Gold sellers strike

Tehran:
Oct. 4, 2010 - Regime is frightened of transfer of news of strikes and bazaar closures in Tehran, police force in Tehran attacked Ark square and Delgosah triangle and arrested all the reporters who were there to collect news and prepare report. People and shop owners who protested against these acts were attacked and hit by police forces.

Tehran:
Oct. 4, 2010 - About 30 to 40 percent of Merchants checks have been returned, one of the merchants in gold store said, we have to expect that from two checks one will return. He said we have to go to a meeting following the strike, but till next Saturday the Bazaar will be closed and nothing will change. He said about the shop owners in different areas of Tehran that the shops are closed and no one sells gold.

Vibrations in price of dollars and gold in Tehran
Tehran – Oct. 4, 2010
One of the gold sellers of Tehran bazar has said that dollar was changed about 1112 toman today, the reason for increase in price was because the government has not been able to work with the person who used to buy and sell Derham and get dollars. That was the reason for increase in price of dollar.

Bazaar Strike in Iran

Hamedan:
Oct. 4, 2010 - On the behalf of the gold sellers union, has been told to the shop owners that they must install a leaflet on the doors of shops, saying, the reason for closure is not because of Tax payments. Other wise they will close the shop and cancel the permission for sale. Therefore they have installed the placards but bazaar is still closed.

Hamedan:
Oct. 4, 2010 - Hamedan province in an invitation of gold and jewel syndicate of the country has started its strike all over the country. Police forces are on alert in front of the gold sellers shops.

Head of Iran judiciary terrified over black listing of 8 Iranian human rights violators
Oct. 4, 2010
Sadeq Larijani, the head of Iran’s Judiciary expressed his anger over the listing of eight regime officials in the US sanction list and said, “In a county like America, which claims to be a champion of human rights, the president who is in charge of executive issues in a country easily issues sentences against people in another government. People who have not been tried, no discussions have been made and nothing has been discovered (about them) and they just issue sentences unilaterally. This shows that judicial issues are entangled with politics over there (in the US)”.


Sanctions and Economy

Iranians flock to buy foreign currency after value of dollar raises in Iran
Oct. 4, 2010
The Mehr News Agency (State-Run) announced that people have flocked to the banks in Iran to buy dollars. According to this state-run news agency, on the early morning of October 13, people were waiting in long lines to buy foreign currency. According to the Fars News Agency, the crowds were so large outside the Meli and Melat Banks that lines of people stretched out and covered a number of streets.
Mehr News Agency: Despite the fact that officials of the Central and Meli Banks have announced that people can buy foreign currency without any limitations, government officials have said that people should not hurry into buying foreign currency because they might run into problems.
Fars: After the Central Bank entered the scene to control the currency market and exchange centers at the Meli and Melat Banks announced their rates at 1,078 tomans, people were willing to stand in line for a few hours in the Meli and Melat Banks rather than go to exchange centers who are asking for higher prices or have not announced their rates.
ILNA: Asked if Turkey would fill the place of Dubai for transferring currency to Iran, the head of the Meli Bank said “Tehran will not announce its methods”.
When ILNA’s reporter asked if the source of the problems in the currency market were related to the sanctions, Mahmoud Khavari said in anger to the reporter, “What are you after? What do you want to know? The world is looking to do business with Iran. And the price of the gold coin is on the rise”.

Critical state of hospital services in Iran 
Oct. 4, 2010
After a bill was passed by Ahmadinejad’s cabinet for the transfer of government employees to towns outside of Tehran, about 10 percent of nurses have been transferred to other towns.
Mohammad Sharifi Moqadam, the head of the Nurse House in Iran said that the transfer of nurses from hospitals has lead to a critical state for treatment services.
“Every day we are witnessing that the condition of our treatment services in the hospital becomes more critical… for every bed, there are 0.6 nurse employees and we need more nurses for special wards”. He said that the lack of nurses was because of the Iranian regime’s lack of attention to the nurse system, the faulty human forces structure which has been the same for 40 years, and the very low wages of nurses.
“The transfer of Tehran nurses to other towns has led to an increase of pressure on other nurses who have led to nurses leaving work and a crisis currently exists in Tehran hospitals”.
“With the transfer of nurses, forced over times has increased. For example currently in the Khomeini Hospital, every ward which holds about 15 patients is run by an inexperienced nurse”, he added.


Crack within the regime

Iran filters websites of two clerics
Oct. 4, 2010
Khamenei’s faction has filtered the website of a number of Qom clerics. The websites of Yusef Saneie and Asadollah Bayat Zanjani were filtered. These clerics condemned this move by the government in statements and stressed that they would continue their activities (against the government).


Suppression

Iran hangs woman and three men in Khorasan
Oct. 5, 2010
A woman was hanged in Northern Khorasan while three men were hanged in Southern Khorasan in the month of Shahrivar (August 23 to September 22) and the month of Mehr (September 23 – October 23) without official notifications in internal media.
According to the local Shahre Shirvan website, a woman was executed in the end of last week in this town. According to other reports, three men were executed in the month of Ramadan without having the opportunity to defend themselves against the charge. They were executed in prison upon the personal orders of the head of Iran’s Judiciary, Larijani. Executions are usually not carried out in the month of Ramadan.

Names of 23 female death row prisoners
Oct. 5, 2010
According to reports, there are a large number of female prisoners in the Female Cellblock in Evin Prison who are awaiting their execution.
Most of these death row prisoners are from poor backgrounds; prisoners who were subjected to domestic or social violence without any kind of defense which led them to take revenge in a country ruled by misogynous laws. Women who did whatever they could because of poverty and hunger to keep from going hungry.
A number of death row female prisoners who can be executed at any moment are:
1- Soraya Zakaria Nejad- homemaker- has been in prison for 4 years- charged with possessing narcotics- is in cellblock 3 in Evin Prison
2- Ashraf Amrayi, 38- homemaker- has been in prison for two years- possessing narcotics- husband executed before - cellblock 3
3- Soheila Pour Hosseini, 19- homemaker- has been jailed for one year- murder- cellblock 3
4- Ashraf Kalhour, 45, homemaker- sentenced to death by stoning on charges of murder and adultery and has been detained for 9 years- cellblock 2
5- Shahla Jahed - has been in prison for 8 years – murder- cellblock 1- Judge Jafarzadeh sentenced her to death
6- Kobra Rahmanpour, 29- homemaker- detained for nine year- murder- cellblock 2- Judge Aziz Mohammadi
7- Sougand Jahani, 28- homemaker- murder- has been in prison for 2.5 years- cellblock 2- Judge Aziz Mohammadi
8- Reihaneh Jabari, 25- murder- has been in prison for 3.5 years- cellblock 1- Judge Tordast
9- Sadat Safavi, 45- homemaker- narcotics- cellblock 1
10- Sahar Pari Khani, 23 – homemaker- murder- has been in prison for 3 years- cellblock 2
11- Fatemeh Hadad, 34- homemaker- murder- has been in prison for 1.5 years- cellblock 2
12- Akram Ali Mohammadi, 29- murder- has been in prison for five years - cellblock 2
13- Fereshteh Bigvand 45- homemaker- narcotics- has been in prison for five years- cellblock 1
14- Leila Khajeh Vandi, 32- narcotics- 2.5 years in prison- cellblock 1
15- Noqreh Khazayi, 47- homemaker- murder and narcotics- has been in prison for 4 years- cellblock 2
16- Leila Tavakoli Mahalati, 28- murder- has been in prison for five years- Judge Kouh Kamareyi- cellblock 2
17- Fatemeh Moti, 40, has been in prison for 1.5 years- Judge Aziz Mohammadi
18- Mahboubeh Sheikh Lar, 18- murder- has been in prison for one year- Judge Aziz Mohammadi
19- Mina Cheraghi, 25– narcotics- has been in prison for 2 years
20- Sherafat Bigvand- narcotics- 5 years in prison
21- Azita Molla-Hashemi- six year in prison- Judge Aziz Mohammadi
22- Farahnaz Nik-Khah- murder- seven years in prison- Judge Aziz Mohammadi
23- Razieh Julideh, 35 and Marzieh Tavakoli, 20 are mother and daughter – murder
24- Zarin Taj Gharib- four years in prison- Judge Hemat Yar
25- Zahra Adi Gozari Moqadam- murder- 7 years in prison- Judge Aziz Mohammadi
26- Massoumeh Aqayi- murder- two years in prison- Judge Aziz Mohammadi
27- Saiedeh Khodayi Del- complicity in murder- 8.5 years in prison- Judge Tabatabayi
28- Soheila Pour Hosseini- murder- 10 months in prison
29- Marzieh Rahmani- complicity in murder- five years in prison- Judge Aziz Mohammadi and Judge Tordast
30- Zahra Rahimi- murder- one year in prison
31- Nasrin Najafi- murder- one year in prison
32- Azam Ahmad Vand, 27- six years in prison- Judge Aziz Mohammadi

Iran expels student over faith
Oct. 3, 2010
Baha’i student Rohollah Qodrat was expelled from the Medical Rafsanjan University in a letter from the Ministry of Hygiene, Treatment and Medical Education and was banned from continuing his education because of his Baha’i faith.
The Education Administrator said that he was expelled because of his faith in the Baha’i religion and stated that they are tasked with identifying all Baha’i students and immediately expelling them from university.
Another blogger sentenced to 15 years of prison
Oct. 5, 2010
Hossein Ronaqi Maleki, student activist and blogger was sentenced to 15 years of prison.
Zoleikha Moussavi, his mother, announced this sentence and said, “Initially his sentence was to be announced on September 26 but then they said that it would be announced on October 3. On October 3 they took him to court without informing us or his lawyer and did not let us see him”.
“The secretary of the court told Hossein his sentence and did not even let him see the written sentence. They just told him that he had been sentenced to 15 years of prison”, she added.
Hossein Ronaqi Maleki was arrested on December 13, 2009 and was taken to a solitary cell in cellblock 2 in Evin Prison. He was under severe mental and physical pressure in his 10 months of detention in solitary to make confessions on TV. His interrogators threatened him that if he did not give an interview, he would receive a heavy prison term.

Political prisoner near paralysis because of lack of medical attention; banned from family visits
Oct. 5, 2010
Hamed Rouhi Nejad was transferred to a two person cell in a detention center near the Central Zanjan Prison and was banned from family visits.
According to reports, this political prisoner who has been sentenced to 10 years of prison to be served in exile is suffering from multiple sclerosis and his condition has greatly deteriorated after being transferred to Zanjan Prison because of lack of medical attention and facilities.
Hamed Rouhi Nejad and his family have written letters to various judicial officials about his terrible condition including the Tehran Prosecutor and the judge on his case but have so far not been successful in getting him a medical leave from prison.
Rouhi Nejad is becoming paralyzed and has so far lost 50 percent of his hearing and vision and has to receive medical attention.
His family says that after he was transferred to Zanjan Prison, the conditions for visiting their son has become harder and since last week because he was transferred to a detention center near Zanjan Prison, he has been banned from visits.
It is still not clear why he was taken to a solitary cell but in his last visit with his family, he said that he would go on hunger strike in protest to the lack of medical attention for his condition.

8 political prisoners kept in state of limbo after 50 days 
Oct. 4, 2010
Fifty days after the arrest of a number of Kurd citizens in Marivan by intelligence and Revolutionary Guards Corps forces in the Ney Village, these prisoners are still kept in a state of limbo in solitary cells in the Marivan Intelligence Agency.
According to reports, Bahman Fatahzadeh, Borhan Derakhshani, Bariar Kaveh, Barian Kaveh, and Borhan Khosravi were arrested on August 14 after armed intelligence and RGC forces attacked their homes in Marivan. These forces also insulted and harassed their families while searching their homes.
A few days later, three other young men in that village identified as Amir Kaveh, Mosleh Badakhsh and Mokhtar Efra were arrested by intelligence and RGC forces. Another young man identified as Mahmoud Mardani was also arrested after being summoned to the Marivan Intelligence Agency.
Despite their families constant pursuits, they still have not received any clear answers regarding their loved ones and it is still not clear why they were arrested and what their charges are.

No news on detained Kurd teacher after one month
Oct. 4, 2010
There is no news on the fate of a Kurd academic activist in Marivan who was arrested about one month ago by security forces in this town. According to reports in Marivan, Aziz Naseri is the principal of Marivan’s high schools and a former member of the Kurdistan Teacher Association who was taken to an unknown location after his arrest. Despite constant pursuits by his family, officials have not said why he was arrested and what his charges are.
Naseri has more than 12 years of experience teaching Farsi literature in Marivan’s high schools.



Students Committee in Iran (Supporters of PMOI)

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