Election in Iran
After rigging the election and brutalising non-violent protestors, Iranian dictator Ahmadinejad is now murdering political prisoners held during the mass uprising after the election. Fears are mounting over the safety of hundreds of political prisoners in Tehran's Guantanamo Evian prison following the death of two political prisoners. Mohsen Rouholamini and Amir Javadifar died in Evian prison due to beatings by the security forces.
Mr. Rouholamini, the son of a prominent Iranian scientist, died from merciless beatings inflicted by his jailers. The same happened to Amir Zavadifar who suffered a broken skull after being tortured by the prison guards. Another political prisoner, Isa Saharkhiz, a prominent reformist journalist, is reported to have suffered broken ribs after being tortured for hours.
Campaigners are also concerned for the safety of Kian Tajbaksh, an Iranian-American journalist and scholar said to be under pressure to confess involvement in an alleged Western plot to orchestrate protests.
Prisoners recently released from Evian have described enduring countless beatings. "I was beaten by batons and slapped thousands of times," said one, who spent two weeks in the prison. One recently released man was said to have completely lost his mind.
Thousands are still in prison where they are being regularly tortured to extract "confession" that the protests were a part of a foreign conspiracy. Iran's already divided political establishment has been shocked by Rouholamini's death.
His father Abdolhossain Rouholamini, is a former head of the Pasteur Institute, a leading Iranian scientific organisation.
Mohesen Rouholamini, arrested on July 9, was treated with particular brutality because of his prominent father to intimidate others. One reformist and head of the parliamentary committee, Hamid Riza Katouzian, called Mr. Rouholamini's death "very ugly" and added : "Those who have turned society into a dictatorial state and deployed military measures should be held responsible."
Iranian journalists with an independent mind are under severe pressure from the Ahmadinejad regime. With all foreign journalists expelled, it depends on the Iranian journalists to let the world know the true picture. But anyone reporting real news faces prison and even execution.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments