January 10, 2010

* * Below: New video of attack on Karubi’s car, in Qazvin on January 7th.

* * Below: New video of December 27th, 2009 Ashura protest, filmed by a protester explaining everything in English, Hafez Bridge, Tehran.

* * Mourning mothers Arrested

On Friday, January 8th, as the mourning mothers got together for their weekly gathering at Tehran’s Laleh Park , security forces coerced them and their sympathizers into cars under the pretext of wanting them to fill out a questionnaire. They were then transported to the Vozara Avenue detention center.

Hour after hour, the families of the detainees showed up at the detention center in order to obtain information on their loved ones but the guards and functionaries of the detention center would tell them to refer to the revolutionary public prosecutor’s headquarters as the Vozara Avenue branch was only being used as a holding area.

At approximately midnight, an ambulance entered the gates of the detention center which transferred nine of the arrested women who suffered from physical ailments such as heart conditions, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. to Firouzgar and Sajjad hospitals. Early on Saturday  afternoon, the nine women and a number of other detainees were transferred to another location. As they were being driven away, the crowds that had gathered at the Vozara Avenue center began chanting: “Free the mothers, long live the mothers”. Drivers and area residents then began to join the crowd of supporters by parking their cars and coming out of their houses.

At 2:20 p.m. two young Iranians who were among those who had parked their car to join in, began filming and photographing the crowd when regime agents attacked and arrested them as well, at which point clashes began between the protesters and the agents who were forcing the crowd to disburse. As usual however the regime’s own security agents poured out among the protesters and began filming and photographing them in order to identify them through facial recognition, for their later arrests.

Finally by about 5 p.m. fourteen detainees were transferred to Evin prison. It is as of yet unknown as to the condition and situation that other detainees are facing. One of the mothers who was finally released after more than a day in detention, 75-year-old Mrs. Eizadi had been severely beaten and her right foot had been broken while in detention.

The leading agent who is said to be at all the mourning mothers’ gathering and was once again present throughout the Vozara Avenue melee has been identified as Ali Aal-Bouyeh.

On Saturday night a list of thirty three detainees was read out by the security agents. The following are their names:

1. Zahra Attab
2. Massoumeh Attar
3. Maryam Hosseingholizadeh
4. Aniseh Bakhshaei
5. Fereshteh Ta’aadoli
6. Fatemeh Farhadi
7. Fatemeh Rastegar
8. Hakimeh Shokri
9. Kobra Najafpour
10. Touba Darolshafaei
11. Tahereh Akhshaei
12. Manijeh Taheri
13. Zahra Afrooz
14. Zari Nojavan
15. Soraya Jafari
16. Leila Seifollahi
17. Fatemeh Salehi
18. Massoureh Behkeesh
19. Nosrat Khaki
20. Sadeegheh Shokri
21. Eshrat Khobr-Hassan
22. Jila Mahdavian
23. Ziba Shakour-Sadeeghi
24. Mohtaram Karamad
25. Fareedeh Sahraei
26. Maliheh Sahraei
27. Mrs. Eizadi
28. Rogheeyeh Tabrizi
29. Akram Naghaei
30. Farideh (last name unknown)
31. Faezeh (last name unknown)

* * In January . China opposes all sanctions on it’s trade partner Iran and has in fact supported the Islamic regime’s suppression of the Iranian protesters. Chinese political activists have however stood firmly by the Iranian protesters. German radio reported that in an action called which has been established on Twitter, the Chinese activists continue to demonstrate their ongoing support for the Iranian protesters. One of the founders of this site who wished to remain anonymous said: “We have closely followed the events in Iran since June; the situation facing the people of Iran is similar to what we face in China but what Iranians have undertaken is extremely brave. Iranians have stood up against their regime and are fighting for a government that properly represents the people; this is exactly what we want for China.

* * Another journalist is arrested: Mostafa Dehghaan who is a freelance journalist covering the social issues of Iran was arrested on Friday, January 1st. It is said that he is being detained in Evin prison’s ward 209 in solitary confinement. No further information is available regarding the charges brought against him.

* * Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) reports that Saftar Moradi, a senior jail wardens of the Rejaeishahr prison in Gohar-Dasht of Karadj (a suburb of Tehran) has resigned from his position in protest against the outrageous abuse and torture of prisoners in that prison. Moradi who is said to have a law degree has stated that he refuses any further cooperation or assignments at any of the Islamic regime’s prisons or prison system. Rejaeishahr prison is one of the most infamous and notorious prisons of the Islamic regime which is directly supervised by the intelligence section of the Revolutionary Guards and known for decades of the most unspeakable abuse of prisoners, many who have died and been badly maimed.

Compiled and translated from Persian to English by Planet Iran staff