جان اگر جان است تقدیمش چه آسان باشدی
روح اگر روح است درمانش چه درمان باشدی؟
آسمان همرنگ آن گوهر ضمیر آشناست
زانهمه دلداگی باشد که درمانش چه آسان باشدی

شیما کلباسی

من بار غم دل را با تو به صفا گفتم
اما ز چه دانی تو این بار کجا باشد

شیما کلباسی

Dr. Farzad Hamidi, Iranian political prisoner is in hunger strike, in Rajaii shahr prison, for 35 days.

His life is in danger and needs your urgent action.

Dr. Hamidi were arrested last June in front of the United Nations building in Tehran during a protest against human rights violations in Iran. You can see more background info in Human Rights Watch web site.

(via Sayeh Sirjani)

To: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

CC: Amnesty International, Reporters without Borders, Human Rights Watch

Arash Sigarchi, the outspoken Iranian newspaper editor and blogger, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison on blatantly false accusations. Amongst the offences fabricated by the country’s judiciary authorities are "disrespect towards the spiritual leader" and "espionage" – both of which are pure fiction and without any factual basis whatsoever.

His is amongst a recent wave of arrests of journalists and bloggers in which all detainees are accused of espionage amongst other made up crimes. These journalists and bloggers all have one thing in common which is their objection to and speaking up about the atrocious way the Islamic regime in Iran treats its citizens.

By falsely accusing Arash of serious crimes, the judiciary has enabled itself to sentence him to a savage sentence. All Mr. Sigarchi has done is to express his opinions, yet he shares the same sentence as serial offenders, who genuinely have committed atrocious acts.

We, the undersigned, demand Mr. Sigarchi's immediate release and urge you to take a firm stand against this and other unlawful arrests made by the Iranian authorities - all in clear violation of article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

Please Sign the Petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/arsi/petition.html

* Which children of the revolution?

Thursday night (25 Feb) Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF) -- a UK charity -- is hosting an event on the future of Iran's "children of the revolution" at the Royal Geographical Society in London. Stars of the show are the Islamic Republic-friendly English writer Christopher de Bellaigue and Ali Ansari, an Islamic Repubic-friendly political scientist (one foreigner, one Iranian Brit, both with questionable connection to under-25s. The future looks bright!).

IHF is after all an Islamic Republic-friendly charity, run by the super-rich. It is unlikely that tonight that there will be any mention of Arash Cigarchi. As of this week, Cigarchi can look forward to 14 years in prison, for writing a weblog. The Islamic killers who run our country are threatened by a lad who if Google serves me right was born in 1979, the year of the revolution. At 25 or 26 he's around eight years younger than me. When he leaves he will be six years older than I am now. By that time he will have had his youth demolished. The youth whose discontent the Islamic-terrorist system has nourished for 25 years, is locked up for expressing it.

If Bellaigue and Ansari tonight mention the issue of imprisonment and torture of dissenting youth, and slam the Islamic government I might apologise for doubting their integrity. But if as I suspect they will not, at their next outing Chris and Ali wear your turbans.

-- Peyvand Khorsandi / Iranian Times

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Iran: Blogger Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison

" The Iranian government is sending a message to its critics: keep silent or face years in prison. "
Widney Brown,
deputy program director of Human Rights Watch

Today is Free Mojtaba and Arash Day... in honor of the two Iranian bloggers currently incarcerated by the Iranian government.

I like to apologize for not replying to your e-mails. My dad was in hospital and I can’t concentrate.

از دوستان و خوانندگانی که ای-میل میدهند ممنونم ولی در حال حاضر نمی تونم جواب بدم. پدرم بیمارستان بستری بوده و من تمرکز نوشتن ندارم.

مثل شیشه ترک خورده هر آن درترس ریختنم.

President Clinton Tells Some Useful Truths... I wonder... what truth is he telling us this time around?

Why I lost my respect for President Clinton? Well it all happened when he publicly acknowledged that the United States had actively overthrown Mossadegh and apologized to Mr. Khatami. He should/could have apologized to "the people of Iran" not the oppressive regime of mullahs. Besides, his analysis of the situation in Iran and distinction between reformers and hardliners is boring, shallow, and plain stupid.

Sheema Kalbasi