Week 47 - 2012

Prisoners’ News

A- Transfers

• Human Rights activist Abolfazl Abedini is back in Evin after being taken to Ahvaz prison Thursday for testifying in Sattar Beheshti case - Ahvaz prison refused to accept him. He begins a dry hunger strike on Tuesday after being transferred to solitary 209 and stops it on Thursday when back to 350.
• Imprisoned, disabled Iran-Iraq veteran and civil rights activist Nader Babaei taken to hospital.
• Mehdi Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi transferred to hospital for some hours.
• 5 days after activist Saeed Madani was transferred from 209 to 350, they took him back to Intel ward 209.
• Reza Shahabi transferred to hospital for medical examinations.
• Nasrin Sotoudeh is back to Evin general ward but still on hunger strike.
• Ahmad Zeidabadi, imprisoned Secretary General of Advare Tahkim (Alumni Society) taken to hospital.

B- Arrests/Incarcerations

• Fars Ahmadi, Kurd citizen of Ravansar, arrested and sent to Dizelabad prison in Kermanshah.
• Hadi Aghaei, Kurd citizen of Ravansar, arrested and sent to Dizelabad prison in Kermanshah.
• Ovjan Akbari, member of pan-iranist party, arrested in Reza Kermani's house and transferred to Karaj police station.
• Kasra Alasavand, member of pan-iranist party, arrested in Reza Kermani's house and transferred to Karaj police station.
• Foad Angoushtan, Kurd citizen of Ravansar, arrested and sent to Dizelabad prison in Kermanshah.
• Ashkan and Saman Badiei-Arani, Baha’is from Karaj arrested.
• Poet Dr. Mostafa Badkoubei reported to Evin to start serving his 18 months sentence.
• Farhad Baghbani, member of pan-iranist party, arrested in Reza Kermani's house and transferred to Karaj police station.
• Farhad Eghbal, Baha'i citizen arrested in Gorgan.
• Hooman Eskandari, member of pan-iranist party, arrested in Reza Kermani's house and transferred to Karaj police station.
• Foad Fahandezh, Baha’i from Gorgan arrested.
• Hossein Falah previous president of NGOs in Ghazvin arrested.
• Parastou Forouhar arrested at the airport, her passport confiscated.
• Behrooz Ghobadi, brother of film maker Bahman Ghobadi arrested.
• Hossein Javid, member of pan-iranist party, arrested in Reza Kermani's house and transferred to Karaj police station.
• Hojat Kalashi, member of pan-iranist party, arrested in Reza Kermani's house and transferred to Karaj police station.
• Payam Markazi, Baha’i from Gorgan arrested.
• Adel Moradi, Kurd citizen of Ravansar, arrested and sent to Dizelabad prison in Kermanshah.
• Ramezan Mozafari, Kurd citizen of Ravansar, arrested and sent to Dizelabad prison in Kermanshah.
• Pedram Nasrollahi, workers’ rights activist begins serving his sentence at Sanandaj prison.
• Bakhtiar Nazari, Kurd citizen of Ravansar, arrested and sent to Dizelabad prison in Kermanshah.
• Ghafar Pormor, Kurd citizen of Ravansar, arrested and sent to Dizelabad prison in Kermanshah.
• Shargh newspaper reporter/Gonabadi Dervish activist Alireza Roshan started serving out 1 year prison term.
• Siamak Sadri, Baha’i from Gorgan arrested.
• Majid Sedaghat, 24 years old, went to Evin to serve his 1 year sentence.
• Hossein Shahriari, member of pan-iranist party, arrested in Reza Kermani's house and transferred to Karaj police station.
• Alireza Soleimani, member of pan-iranist party, arrested in Reza Kermani's house and transferred to Karaj police station.
• Political prisoner Mostafa Tajzadeh released on furlough Tuesday is back in Evin. Furlough was not extended.
• 29 arrested including a poet Abu Shaima attending the funeral of an Ahvaz poet Sattar al-Sayahi.

C-Liberations

• One Million Signatures Campaign member Zeinab Bayazidi, released from prison after 4 years and 5 months.
• Political activist Mahmoud Dordkeshan released on a 1 week furlough.
• Civil activist Vahid Habibcheshmeh released from Tabriz prison after serving out his 6 months sentence.

D-Other News

• Mehdi Karroubi is back at home.
• By order of the Prosecutor all in-person visits for female political prisoners have been suspended until further notice.

News of injustice in Iran

• Labor activist Saeed Hadi Daneshyar sentenced to 3 years in prison in Shiraz 
• Retired teacher Masoumeh Dehghan, wife of jailed Human Rights lawyer Abdolfatah Soltani, gets one-year jail suspended for 5 years + 5 years ban on leaving country.
• Mahabad Payam Nour University student Jamal Ghadernezhad sentenced to 5 years for association with a banned group.

University – Culture

• Dormitory students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences protested bad food, lack of facilities and lack of accountability.
• Two journalists attacked in Iran.

Protests

• Women stopped by security forces entering the shrine of late dissident cleric Ayatollah Montazeri.
• Workers’ Rights rally in opposition to current labour laws changes.
• At the end of the one-day strike at Noorad Pipe Factory in Saveh to protest the withholding of salaries, worker rights’ activist Mohammad Raouf, was not allowed to return to the factory.

Iran Economics

• Ericsson helps Iran telecoms, letter reveals long-term deal.
• Iran has extended Lebanon a USD 40 million loan to finance construction of a water dam.
• China Classification Society (CCS) ended its certification of Iranian vessels

Politics in Iran

• Several people "terrorist elements related to foreign intelligence services"  arrested in Khuzestan.
• A new law will obliges single women to have a legal tutor until they are 40 years old.
• Two Afghan refugees killed by Iranian border police.
• Reformists prepare to set up united front ahead of elections.

Iran  abroad

• A delegation of MPs + Minister of Foreign Affairs will go to Gaza.
• U.S. denies visas to Iran officials for U.N. meeting.
• Iran denies supplying Fajr-5 rockets to Gaza militants.
• Iran speaker confirms military aid to Hamas.

Miscellaneous

• Arrests in Shush following pipeline explosion.
• Acute shortage of Deferoxamine threatening the lives of patients with Thalassemia in Iran.