This is the British Broadcasting Corporation’s version of the documentary on the death of Neda Agha Soltan, posted in six parts that it co-developed with the US Public Broadcasting Service and Tehran Bureau. While it has the same material as the PBS version, which we posted on 18 November, there are differences in editing and approach.
2105 GMT: Apparently Saeed Sharati was freed “on the order of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court“, which seems like an acquittal. If so, that would be to my knowledge the first release of a prominent reformist after a trial.
2045 GMT: Carrot and Stick. Is the Government showing confidence that it has the reformists under control with a combination of jail sentences for some and releases for others? Saeed Shariati, a high-ranking Islamic Iran Participation Front members detained for more than three months, and Ashkan Mojallali, Mahdieh Minooie, and Iman Mirabzadeh, arrested at a prayer gathering last month, were freed — presumably on bail — earlier today.
1820 GMT: When Analyses Attack. From this morning’s post: “One explanation for the shift may be that the Government’s 5+ months of restrictions on the communications and movements of the oppositonal leadership, “supported” by detentions and trials, have worn down the scope of the leadership’s declarations and ambitions.”
This afternoon’s news: “Rasoul Montajeb-Nia, the vice chairman of the Etemad Melli party [of Mehdi Karroubi] in an interview said that they are waiting for the authorities to remove the ban on this party’s main office for further legal operation and activities.”
Meanwhile, former President Mohammad Khatami visited Fatemeh Shahidi, a journalist for the reformist (and suspended) Etemade Melli newspape,) who was recently released after months in detention. Read the rest of this entry »
1925 GMT: On a Positive Note (see 1855 GMT). The Public Broadcasting Service documentary, “Death in Tehran“, on the shooting of Neda Agha Soltan airs at 8 p.m., Eastern Standard Time in the US (0100 GMT). It has been developed and filmed in conjunction with the good folks at Tehran Bureau.
1915 GMT: Former President Mohammad Khatami, speaking to Tehran University students, has called for reform of Iran’s election laws and condemned violent government policies. He maintained that the “Iranian movement” cannot be suppressed by “fear”:
This movement is a deep and widespread movement….The people of Iran want freedom; they want financial, economic, social and political security and because they have suffered through despotism, they want to be masters of their destiny.
1855 GMT: Worst Iran Coverage of the Day. From The New York Times review of a Public Broadcasting Service TV documentary on the death of Neda Agha Soltan:
“A Death in Tehran,” Tuesday’s “Frontline” [documentary] on PBS, is dismaying not just because it deals with a life ended in its prime. It also makes us realize just how quickly the protest movement vanished from the headlines. A part of the world that seemed on the verge of grass-roots-generated change now looks as if it’s back to business as usual.
Vanished from which headlines? Perhaps those of newspapers who are under the delusion that all is “back to business as usual” in Iran?
1850 GMT: The Convictions So Far. Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reports that five people have been sentenced to death and 81 have received jail terms of up to 15 years in connection with post-election protests.
1920 GMT: We have posted, in a separate entry, the English translation of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s interview with the Jamaran website.
1845 GMT: Mohammad Saleh Jokar, a senior official in the Student Basij organization, has announced that 6,000 Basij units will be created in elementary schools, seeking to promote Basij and revolutionary ideals among pupils from a young age. Jokar added that about 4.5 million students at elementary and high schools and 320,000 teachers are members of the Basij force.
The confessions that have been extracted in prison have absolutely no religious or legal value and cannot be the basis for the death or prison punishments that have been issued. Those who are responsible and their accomplices for such confessions, are religiously and legally guilty and criminal.
Whenever the execution of a religious punishment leads to negative consequences on religion or society, the judge can and must stop the execution. (see also “Ayatollah Montazeri’s Interview on Eve of 13 Aban“)
1820 GMT: Labour Activists Jailed. We reported in late October on the threats to detain leaders of the Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company after protests. Four of them — Fereydoun Nikoufard, Jalil Ahmadi, Ghorban Alipour and Mohammad Haydari — have now begun prison terms.
1800 GMT: Publish and Be Damned. Tehran’s Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi has warned that he will pursue sites that “publish baseless news”. The statement follows Monday’s declaration by Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam, Iran’s commander of security forces, “There is need for greater supervision over the internet….Every time we have entered this scene, the media and individuals who show off as intellectuals attack and we step back.” Read the rest of this entry »
Thanks to Pedestrian for translation from original article in Mashrote News. The letter is written on behalf of Karroubi by his son, Mohammad Taqi:
In the Name of God,
[a poem: if the first bricks of a wall are placed askew, the entire wall will go up askew]
Dear Brother, Mr. [Ezatullah] Zarghami,
The Honorable head of IRIB [Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting],
Greetings,
As you are well aware, on Tuesday Mr. Ahmadinejad’s interview with Charlie Rose [of US Public Broadcasting Service] was broadcast on Channel1 [IRIB1]. When speaking of post-election events, the host of this American TV network pointed to the subject of rape in prisons. In response, Mr. Ahmadinejad said: “It is Mr. Karroubi who has made these allegations and when the three-member team from the judiciary refuted his comments, he grew very angry and had nothing to show for it.”
It is quite unfortunate that the culture of lying has become an inseparable part of the executive branch [of government]. I don’t know what it is about New York that brings out this personal attribute [lying] of the president’s two-fold. It is also unfortunate that the Islamic Republic’s broadcasting service has also been transformed to a medium that spreads this vile culture and the result is the lack of trust people feel towards this public medium….
2105 GMT: Apparently Saeed Sharati was freed “
1925 GMT: On a Positive Note (see 1855 GMT). The Public Broadcasting Service documentary, 
1920 GMT: We have posted, 
Entries (RSS)