Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- Honouring Detained Student Activist Tavakoli (Arseh Sevom)

A defiant speech from student activist Majid Tavakoli, now serving a nine-year prison sentence, in December 2008

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Student leader Majid Tavakoli, locked up in prison in Iran, will be awarded the International Student Peace Prize in a ceremony in Norway today. Authorities announce new categories of criminalised speech in advance of the upcoming Presidential elections. Opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mir Hossein Mousavi remain under house arrest while their children are harassed by authorities, and secret executions continue in Iran’s prisons.

The situation has gone from bad to worse when it comes to the economy. New sanctions are on the way, while the government tries to placate the population by offering a pittance for the New Year holidays.

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The Latest from Iran (15 October): European Union Announces More Sanctions

See also Iran Feature: "Oil-Spill Sabotage To Block Strait of Hormuz" --- How Western Media Spreads a Scare Story
The Latest from Iran (14 October): Pretending All Is Well

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2040 GMT: Open All Hours Watch. According to the opposition site Kalemeh, Tehran Chief of Police has said that shopkeepers wishing to close for longer than the “established legal time” must obtain a permit.

Earlier this month many of the shops in the Tehran Bazaar closed amid a protest over the currency crisis.

2031 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. At least one notable MP is none too happy about the prospective interrogation of President Ahmadinejad --- Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, the head of the Principlist faction and a relative of the Supreme Leader, has said, “I don’t think questioning the President in the present circumstances is expedient....Unity and amity for solving the economic problems must be the priority of the Majlis and Government."

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