Archive for April 2014

Detained Opposition Leader Mousavi Rushed to Hospital

Mir Hossein Mousavi

April 29, 2014–Former presidential candidate and opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has been held extra-judicially under house arrest for more than three years, was taken to hospital today for urgent heart complications, according to reports from Iran that the Campaign has independently confirmed.

Read more

Events that took place on April 17 and the following days in Evin Prison

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI) would like to draw your attention to the events that occurred recently in Evin Prison, in Tehran.
On April 17, at 9:30, plain-clothed agents, prison guards and officials entered Ward 350 of the Evin Prison for search and inspection. As they had already experienced misconduct of the agents during previous searches (food and personal belongings going missing), some prisoners in Rooms 1 and 3 demanded to be present during this inspection.
Read more

Iran says ‘blood money’ saved 358 from death penalty

April 28, 2014 – globalpost – The payment of “blood money” spared 358 Iranians from execution last year, the country’s prosecutor general said on Monday. The practice, made possible under the Islamic sharia law of diya (restitution), allows a convict to be pardoned by a victim’s family if they receive financial recompense.

Read more

Iran ex-president urges freedom for political prisoners

April 28, 2014 – globalpost – Iran’s former president Mohammad Khatami has called for the release of political prisoners and urged an end to house arrest for two leaders who alleged fraud after the 2009 election. In remarks published by ISNA news agency, Khatami, in office between 1997 and 2005, said such steps would benefit the country.

Read more

In Iran, Medical Authorities Say Government Censorship Causes Cancer

io9 – Mark Strauss: For years, Iran has been blocking foreign television channels. Now, the country’s medical community is convinced that these electronic countermeasures are responsible for a growing number of cancer cases—and their concerns recently received support from a Grand Ayatollah.

Read more

Iran prison chief replaced after alleged beatings

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran said on Wednesday it had replaced the country’s prisons chief amid an uproar over alleged beating of political prisoners last week in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison
Families of the dozens of political prisoners held there have been protesting outside parliament and the presidential complex and the issue came up in the legislature on Wednesday.

Read more

Rouhani’s Silence on Brutal Prison Attack Unacceptable

Authorities’ Denials Contradicted by Multiple Eyewitness Reports – April 22, 2014– A week after a violent raid by prison officials at Iran’s notorious Evin Prison led to the beating, injury, and solitary confinement of many political prisoners, Iranian Judiciary officials continue to deny any use of violence while vivid testimonies from the families of the prisoners indicate otherwise.

Read more

Families of Iran prisoners stage protest outside parliament

Families of Iran prisoners stage protest outside parliament

Families of Iran prisoners stage protest outside parliament

April 20, 2014 – Chicago Tribune – DUBAI (Reuters) – Families of Iranian prisoners charged with political offences demonstrated outside parliament in Tehran on Sunday to protest at what they said was violent treatment of their relatives at the Evin prison, the Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.
Read more

Iran rape victim bound for gallows unless she changes story

The Telegraph -19 Apr 2014  By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent – Death row accusations that an Iranian intelligent agent was a rapist could condemn his victim to hangman’s noose
An Iranian rape victim has been offered the option of avoiding the gallows if she complies with terms for forgiveness set by the son of the predator she murdered.

Read more

Ex-Marine Held in Iran Asks Official for Help

Amir Hekmati

The New York Times – By RICK GLADSTONE; APRIL 18, 2014 – Amir Hekmati, an American incarcerated in Iran since August 2011, recently wrote to its foreign minister seeking help in gaining his release, after Mr. Hekmati learned from his new lawyer that he had been secretly tried and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on a charge of collaborating with the United States government, family members reported Friday.

Read more