Iran Feature: The Life of a Baha'i Female Political Prisoner (Sabeti)

The Vakilabad Prison has two wards for prisoners of conscience, the men's and women's. In the men’s ward, there may be a few students and supporters of the Green Movement, Mujahedin-e Khalq supporters, Baha’is, dervishes, Sunnis, and sometimes a Christian convert. In the women’s ward, there are currently nine Baha’i prisoners.

The women’s ward in Vakilabad Prison is a small room with an iron window half-a-metre in length that lets in very little sunlight. The room was used as storage until two and a half years ago. As the number of Baha’i prisoners rose, and after the Mashhad Intelligence Office issued orders to restrict contact between Baha’i prisoners and the rest of the inmates, this room --- at the far end of the women’s hall --- was turned into a cell for prisoners of conscience, and the Baha’i inmates were transferred there.

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Iran Video Feature: Wedding Films Banned by the "Morality Police"

Radio Zameneh reports the announcement of Iranian police that people who use satellite programmes to transmit their wedding films are in breach of the law and will face prosecution. Brigadier General Ahmad Rozbehani said:

Any form of collaboration or activity by any Iranian with satellite channels, including the forwarding of documentaries and such, has to be approved by the Ministry of Guidance and Culture. Sending wedding films and photos to satellite programs is illegal, and we will deal with such offences according to the law.

So let's have a look at some of the dangerous footage (hat tip to Payvand):

Here are some more subversives:

And Laleh and Ahmed are on the cutting edge of regime change (and nice shoes):

Iran Interview: The Green Movement and the Battle in the Media (Jami)

I think in terms of media, as far as it concerns individual behaviour and even network behaviour, the Green Movement have really excelled themselves and they have truly proved that if there is a people in the Middle East who is prepared for citizen journalism, it is for sure Iranians. The Greens pushed the Persian media to a new age in which media shifts from informing to networking, deliberation and dialogue.

However, as far as it concerns big media, except at times when they conquered the BBC, they almost had no success at all! This is an important point to ponder. Structurally, the Greens claimed a space that other rivals neither paid attention to nor were interested in. Or they were missing the expertise or media resilience for it. However, with mainstream media, the predominant structures did not allow the birth of an independent Green media. This remains to be a huge obstacle.

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Iran Feature: Iranian Regime to Unveil "Islamic Charter of Human Rights" (Radio Zamaneh)

Tehran Trial of Political Prisoners, August 2009Iran's human rights chief has announced plans for an "Islamic Charter of Human Rights" that will be prepared jointly among some Islamic countries.

Iranian media quoted Mohammad Javad Larijani, the international advisor to the judiciary and the head of its Human Rights Council, from comments he made to a group of Iranians in South Africa: "The preliminaries of this project were accomplished in an earlier meeting in Tehran; however, we will finalize the details of the project in a meeting with judicial and legal representatives of Muslim countries and announce it to the world."

"The Islamic Charter of Human Rights will have the capacity to even affect non-Muslim nations," Larijani said.

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