Patty Debonitas' act of solidarity

Here is a photo of film maker Patty Debonitas' act of solidarity with the people of Iran in Trafalgar Square:

Magnus Nielsen's act of solidarity

No photos available.

Acts of solidarity in Bensancon, France

See photos of November 28 act in Besançon, France against violence against women where the protestors denounced women's discrimination in Iran and other countries, political islam and gender apartheid sent in by Pascal Descamps:

Babak's act of solidarity with the people of Iran

See act of solidarity with people of Iran here:

Iran Solidarity Toronto's act of solidarity

See video footage of acts of soldiarity at York University in Toronto:

Act of solidarity with the people of Iran

Photos to follow.

Bahar Milani's act of solidarity

Bahar Milani's act of solidarity with the people of Iran:

Alfonso Ciuffini's act of solidarity

Photos of activist Alfonso's act to follow.

Issam Shukri's act of solidarity with the people of Iran

See photos of Issam Shukri, head of the Organisation for the Defence of Secularism and Civil Rights in Iraq, doing his act of solidarity with the people of Iran in Trafalgar Square. Video footage to follow:

Magnus Nielsen's act of solidarity

Writer Magnus Nielsen's act of solidarity took place in Trafalgar Square today; no photos available.

November 21 rally's act of solidarity with the people of Iran

At the November 21 rally against Sharia and religious laws, an act of solidarity took place led by Bahar Milani and Richard Francis against child executions in Iran. Here are some photos and film footage below:

Children First's act in supoprt of children in Iran in Germany

Children First Now did their act of solidarity with the people of Iran to mark Universal Children's Day in Frankfurt, Germany:

Iran Solidarity's act in Toronto, Canada

To see video footage of acts of solidarity in Toronto, see below:

Maryam Namazie, Veronika, Muriel Seltmen and Bahar Milani's act of solidarity against Sharia law

See photos and film footage of acts of solidarity against Sharia law by Maryam Namazie, Muriel Seltman, Bahar Milani and Veronika here:

Belinda McKenzie and Esmail Vafa Yaghmaei's act of solidarity

See photos and film footage of activist Belinda McKenzie and poet Esmail Vafa Yaghmaei's act of solidarity with the people of Iran:

Muriel Seltman's act of solidarity

Activist Muriel Seltman did her act of solidarity with the people of Iran today in Trafalgar Square. Photos to follow.

Fariborz Pooya's act of solidarity

Iranian Secular Society head Fariborz Pooya did his act of solidarity with the people of Iran today in Trafalgar Square. Photos to follow.

Magnus Nielsen's act of solidarity

Writer Magnus Nielsen did his act of solidarity against Sharia law today. No photo available.

Execution of Shirko Moarefi postponed

International Committee against Executions

PRESS RELEASE
Saturday November 14, 2009

Following a wave of protests in Iran and internationally, the execution of Shirko Moarefi, which was due to take place today, Saturday 14 November, in the prison of the town of Saqez, has been postponed for the time being. Shirko has now been transferred back from the quarantine cell to the general ward.

However, the threat of execution still looms large over Shirko and a number of other political prisoners. So the work for the revoking of all the execution sentences continues.

The International Committee against Executions calls on the people of Saqez and other cities in Iran and Kurdistan to protest against the impending executions and to demand the revoking of all the execution sentences. The committee is continuing its international work and calls on everyone to hold protest actions in front of parliaments, in city centres and in other venues across Europe, North America and everywhere.

Bahar Milani, Russell Pitcher and Children in Need lads' act of solidarity

See photos and film footage of acts of solidarity against child executions in Iran by Bahar Milani, Russell Picher and Children in Need lads passing by:

Stop execution of Shirko by the Islamic regime of Iran

International Committee against Executions

The following letter (translated by ICAE) was issued by the family of Shirko Moarefi, a 24-year-old political dissident in Iran who is in danger of imminent execution.

Open letter by the family of political prisoner Shirko Moarefi to international bodies and human rights organisations

Shirko Moarefi is in danger of execution. This is the news which we, the Moarefi family, have been repeatedly hearing from the various media in the past two days, and which has raised our concerns a hundred times.

We have also received the news that since Thursday Shirko has been transferred to a single cell of the Ward for the Implementation of Sentences. What other conclusion can we then draw from such news and from stories about the ‘execution team’ remaining in Sanandaj and the impending visit by the Prosecutor General of the Kurdistan Province to Saqez than that everything is working together to send Shirko to the gallows?

Expert lawyers in Iran agree that Shirko has been convicted of war against the Islamic Republic only on the basis of support for a party which has long since given up armed struggle against the Islamic Republic and which has entered a publicity and cultural phase. Furthermore, Shirko’s execution sentence was passed by a court which lasted only for a few minutes. The appeal by his lawyer was unsuccessful and, worse, the sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court.

So we the Moarefi family and relatives request all international bodies and human rights organisations, while defending the basic rights of a political prisoner, to enter into talks with the Islamic Republic regarding the threatened execution of Shirko, convincing the leaders of this government, which has religious claims, not to carry out this sentence.

We the Moarefi family believe that if Shirko has carried out actions which are deemed a crime by the laws of the Islamic Republic, then by the same Islamic laws he could be given a chance; the chance to live again and to be again.

Finally, according to Islamic penal codes, execution is the highest punishment that the judiciary considers for an accused, while kindness and affection are also amongst the most salient features of all divine religions, in particular Islam. We therefore expect that the young people of this land are judged by such affection. Is this too much to ask by an old father and a heartbroken mother?

Moarefi family
Town of Baaneh, Iran
November 13, 2009

Stop execution of Shirko by Islamic regime of Iran

International Committee against Executions

The following letter (translated by ICAE) was issued by the family of Shirko Moarefi, a 24-year-old political dissident in Iran who is in danger of imminent execution.

Open letter by the family of political prisoner Shirko Moarefi to international bodies and human rights organisations

Shirko Moarefi is in danger of execution. This is the news which we, the Moarefi family, have been repeatedly hearing from the various media in the past two days, and which has raised our concerns a hundred times.

We have also received the news that since Thursday Shirko has been transferred to a single cell of the Ward for the Implementation of Sentences. What other conclusion can we then draw from such news and from stories about the ‘execution team’ remaining in Sanandaj and the impending visit by the Prosecutor General of the Kurdistan Province to Saqez than that everything is working together to send Shirko to the gallows?

Expert lawyers in Iran agree that Shirko has been convicted of war against the Islamic Republic only on the basis of support for a party which has long since given up armed struggle against the Islamic Republic and which has entered a publicity and cultural phase. Furthermore, Shirko’s execution sentence was passed by a court which lasted only for a few minutes. The appeal by his lawyer was unsuccessful and, worse, the sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court.

So we the Moarefi family and relatives request all international bodies and human rights organisations, while defending the basic rights of a political prisoner, to enter into talks with the Islamic Republic regarding the threatened execution of Shirko, convincing the leaders of this government, which has religious claims, not to carry out this sentence.

We the Moarefi family believe that if Shirko has carried out actions which are deemed a crime by the laws of the Islamic Republic, then by the same Islamic laws he could be given a chance; the chance to live again and to be again.

Finally, according to Islamic penal codes, execution is the highest punishment that the judiciary considers for an accused, while kindness and affection are also amongst the most salient features of all divine religions, in particular Islam. We therefore expect that the young people of this land are judged by such affection. Is this too much to ask by an old father and a heartbroken mother?

Moarefi family
Town of Baaneh, Iran
November 13, 2009

Maria Hageberg's act of solidarity

See speech of Chair of Network against Honour-Related Violence from Sweden, Maria Hagberg, in Trafalgar Square in support of the people of Iran here:

Toronto's act of solidarity

Iran Solidarity goes to Vari Hall in York University, Toronto on Friday 13 to mobilise solidarity with the people of Iran:

Bahar Milani's act of solidarity

See Bahar Milani's and other acts of solidarity with the people of Iran:

Richard Francis' act of solidarity

See photos of Richard Francis' act of solidarity here:

Political prisoner Ehsan Fattahian executed today in Iran

According to reliable sources in Iran, political prisoner Ehsan Fattahian was hanged in Sanandaj today.

Despite campaigns on his behalf, he was executed in Sanandaj prison this morning.

Iran Solidarity sends its condolences to Fattahian's family and loved ones, unequivocally condemns the Islamic regime of Iran and calls for a stepping up of efforts to end the death penalty in Iran and everywhere once and for all.

Acts of solidarity against the execution of Ehsan Fattahian

See photos of acts by Beata Szczypinska visiting from Poland, writer Magnus Nielsen, ex-Muslim Abbas Naji, activists Bahar Milani and Behruz Bahari against the execution of Ehsan Fattahian scheduled tomorrow:

I Never Feared Death: The Plight of Ehsan Fattahian

The last glimmers of the dusk sun
Are showing me the path on which to write;
The sounds of leaves under my steps
Are telling me “let yourself fall
And you will rediscover the path to freedom.”

I never feared death. Even now, as I feel its odd and honest presence next to me, I still want to smell its aroma and rediscover it; Death, who has been the most ancient companion of this land. I don’t want to talk about death; I want to question the reasons behind it. Today, when punishment is the answer for those who seek freedom and justice, how can one fear his fate? Those of “us” who have been sentenced to death by “them” are only guilty of seeking an opening to a better and fair world. Are “they” also aware of their deeds?

I started my life in the city of Kermanshah, the name of which has always been on the tongues of my compatriots for its greatness; the city which is called the cradle of civilization. As my thoughts were developing, I came to see and feel the injustice and discrimination; an injustice that targeted me not only as an individual but also as a member of humankind. I went in thousand different directions to find out the reasons behind injustice. Alas, they had made the arena so closed for those who were thriving for justice that I could not find my way in. I immigrated to another arena outside the superficial boundaries to find answers to my questions. I became a Komeleh guerilla in order to find my stolen identity. Yet I never separated from my first home, and once in a while I returned there to renew my memories. And then one day, they found me during one of my visits, arrested me and put me in a cage. The greeting my captors reserved for me from day one convinced me that my fate would be similar to those who had walked before me along that road: torture, fabricated charges, biased court, an unjust and politically motivated verdict and finally death.

Let me put it this way: after being arrested on July 20th, 2008, in Kamyaran, I was taken to the Intelligence Ministry’s local office. A few hours later, as I was blindfolded and chained and could not see or move, a person who introduced himself as the deputy prosecutor began questioning me. His questions were irrelevant and filled with made up accusations (let me remind you that it is strictly against the law to interrogate people in places other than courts and tribunals). This was the first of many interrogation sessions I had to face. The same night, I was taken to the Intelligence Ministry’s provincial headquarters in Sanandaj, where I had to attend the real party: a dirty cell with a disgusting washroom. The blankets had not been washed for years. This was the beginning of three months of going up and down the hall from my cell to the interrogation room, always being beaten along the way. The honorable interrogators were so keen to get a promotion or make a bit more money that they accused me of all kinds of bizarre things, even though they knew of the falsehood of their accusation. They used every means in their power to prove that I had taken part in armed operations. In the end they could only prove that I had been a member of Komeleh and had taken part in propaganda activities against the regime. The 10 year sentence handed by the initial court is good proof that I only had one charge. The 1st branch of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj sentenced me to 10 years in prison, to be served in Ramhormoz Prison outside Kordestan. The political and administrative establishment in Iran has always been in favor of centralized policies, but, apparently, in my case, they had decided to reverse course! Recently provincial appeals courts have become the judicial authority to rule in cases related to political prisoners, even in capital punishment cases. Capital punishment cases were the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. So, the Kamayaran prosecutor objected the initial ruling, and, surprisingly, against Iranian law, the 4th branch of the Kordestan Appeals Court changed the 10 year sentence to a death sentence. According to Article 258 of Iranian Criminal law, appeals courts can only issue a heavier sentence when the initial sentence is lighter than the minimum punishment required by law. The indictment presented by the prosecutor stated the charge as Moharebeh (enmity against God). The minimum punishment required by law in similar cases is 1 year in prison. Now, be the judge yourself and compare the 10 year prison sentence (served in exile) with the minimum required to see how illegal, unlawful and political the death sentence is.

Let me add that, shortly before my sentence was changed to the death sentence, I was taken from Sanandaj prison to the Intelligence Ministry’s detention center, where I was asked to make a false confession on camera, show remorse for the actions I had not committed and reject my beliefs. I did not give in to their illegitimate demands, so I was told that my prison sentence would be changed to the death sentence. They were fast to keep their promise and prove to me how courts always concede to the demands of intelligence and non-judicial authorities. How can one criticize the courts then?

All judges take an oath to remain impartial at all times and in all cases, to rule according to the law and nothing but the law. How many of the judges of this country can say that they have not broken their oath and have remained fair and impartial? In my opinion the number is countable with the fingers on my hand. When the entire justice system in Iran orders arrests, trials, imprisonments and death sentences with the simple hand gesture of an uneducated interrogator, what is to be expected from a few minor judges in a province that has always been discriminated against? Yes, in my view, it is the foundation of the house which is in ruins.

Last time I met in prison with the prosecutor who had issued the initial indictment, he admitted that the ruling was illegal. Yet, for the second time, it has been ruled that my execution should be carried out. It goes without saying that the insistence to carry out the execution at any cost is a result of pressures exercised by political and intelligence groups outside the Judiciary. People who are part of these groups look at the question of life and death of a prisoner only based on their own political and financial interests. They cannot see anything but their own illegitimate objectives, even when it is the question of a person’s right to life - the most basic of all human rights. How pointless is it to expect them to respect international treaties when they don’t even respect their own laws?

Last word: if the rulers and oppressors think that, with my death, the Kurdish question will go away, they are wrong. My death and the deaths of thousands of others like me will not cure the pain; they will only add to the flames of this fire. There is no doubt that every death is the beginning of a new life.

Ehsan Fattahian
Sanandaj Central Prison

Political prisoner to be executed in Iran tomorrow

I received this message from Ehsan’s family yesterday. Ehsan is 28 and was born in Kermanshah, Iran. He worked in Kamiran, Iranian Kurdistan. He was arrested two years ago because of apostasy (renouncing his religion) and working in opposition to the Islamic regime. At first he was sentenced to ten years in jail, but subsequently the High Court sentenced him to be executed because of apostasy.

Two days ago, Sunday, 8 November his lawyer was informed that Ehsan will be executed at 4am this Wednesday in the prison of Sannandaj. On Sunday Ehsan went on hunger strike and dozens of other prisoners have written a letter appealing to the world community to do something against this state-sponsored murder.

Ehsan Fattahian is not the only activist in this kind of situation. According to reports a further 16 Kurdish political activists in various prisons have received the death sentence . According to several Kurdish human rights websites Habib Ollah Latifi and Shirko Ma'rofi are also in great danger of being executed in the coming weeks.

Time is running out. I ask everyone, who has contact with their government and all secular and humanist organisations: Help us to save Ehsan! He and his family are desperate, but I think we can save Ehsan. Join in and help us!

Mina Ahadi
International Committee Against Executions

Please sign the petition


Contacts
Mina Ahadi
minaahadi@aol.com
00491775692413
(Germany)

Farshad Hoseini (International contact)
farshadhoseini@yahoo.com
Tel: + 31 633 60 2627
Fax: + 17345386165

Ehsan Fattahian will be executed tomorrow in Iran: Act now!

I received this message from Ehsan’s family yesterday. Ehsan is 28 and was born in Kermanshah, Iran. He worked in Kamiran, Iranian Kurdistan. He was arrested two years ago because of apostasy (renouncing his religion) and working in opposition to the Islamic regime. At first he was sentenced to ten years in jail, but subsequently the High Court sentenced him to be executed because of apostasy.

Two days ago, Sunday, 8 November his lawyer was informed that Ehsan will be executed at 4am this Wednesday in the prison of Sannandaj. On Sunday Ehsan went on hunger strike and dozens of other prisoners have written a letter appealing to the world community to do something against this state-sponsored murder.

Ehsan Fattahian is not the only activist in this kind of situation. According to reports a further 16 Kurdish political activists in various prisons have received the death sentence . According to several Kurdish human rights websites Habib Ollah Latifi and Shirko Ma'rofi are also in great danger of being executed in the coming weeks.

Time is running out. I ask everyone, who has contact with their government and all secular and humanist organisations: Help us to save Ehsan! He and his family are desperate, but I think we can save Ehsan. Join in and help us!

Mina Ahadi
International Committee Against Executions

Please sign the petition


Contacts
Mina Ahadi
minaahadi@aol.com
00491775692413
(Germany)

Farshad Hoseini (International contact)
farshadhoseini@yahoo.com
Tel: + 31 633 60 2627
Fax: + 17345386165

Richard Francis' act of solidarity

See photos of activist Richard Francis' act of solidarity with the people of Iran:

Magnus Nielsen's act of solidarity

Writer Magnus Nielsen did his act of solidarity today from 4.15 to 5pm at Trafalgar Square before it got too dark. His camera is still out of operation so there is no photo available.

Bahar, Behruz, Keyvan, Hassan, Morteza, Patty and and other acts

See acts of solidarity by guitarist and architect Jorge, and activists Bahar Milani, Behruz Bahari, Keyvan Javid, Hassan Zende-Del, Morteza Fateh, Patty Debonitas and others today in Trafalgar Square.

Jahan Norseman and Mehran Mahbobi's act of solidarity

See video footage of Mehran Mahbobi and Jahan Norseman's act of solidarity with the people of Iran in Toronto, Canada:

Nima Jam's act of solidarity with the people of Iran

See photos of ex-Muslim Nima Jam's act of solidarity with the people of Iran here: