Monday, December 06, 2010

Islamic Republic of Iran: Where the Witness is Jailed and the Killer is Free

Leyla Tavassoli is a young female Iranian engineer and a newly wed. It is less than a month since she has been married but instead of enjoying the best days of her marriage, she has to spend the next two years in jail. Her crime is that she was a witness to the IRI police running over and killing Shahram Farajizadeh during the Ashura uprising last December. Leyla Tavassoli spent two months in section 209 of Evin prison last year before she was released on bail and now her sentence of two years imprisonment has been confirmed by the appeal courts.

Shahram Farajzadeh's sister has called Leyla Tavassoli, Ashura's contemporary equivalent of Zeinab, the prophet's grand daughter who was taken hostage and forced to march to Damascus by Yazid's forces after the battle of Karbala on Ashura.



'I am lost for words as how to thank Leyla for her courage in bearing witness to my brother's murder and as how to express my sadness as the pain this has caused Leyla and her family. Men looked up to Zeynab for her courage and sacrifice and today Leyla has emulated Zeynab's courage by bearing witness to what happened on Ashura. I know not how these 'gentlemen' - regime officials - manage to sleep at night?' Shahram Farajzadeh said.

'They have had no trial for those who murdered my brother and no one has even been investigated, yet the witness to my brother's murder is jailed for two years. I congratulate these 'gentlemen' for making all other tyrants look innocent in comparison with themselves' Mrs Farajzadeh continued as she fought hard to stop herself from crying.

8 comments:

Waybec said...

The usual appalling travesty where Apes now over-rule any decent human rules and values of course! In a normal sane world, such a verdict would be a laughable farce. But Ahmandinejad and Khamanei are now completely beyond the joke! So come on...!!! The fanantical lunatics have sat on their black thrones for too long! FREE LEYLA! It's about time the true wardens of intelligence, justice, liberty, democracy and equality all came out and took their country back!

Juniper in the Desert said...

Shared! ;((

Anonymous said...

..and yet the international community still deem it prudent to enter negotiations with these tyrants!! Ashton and her naive counterparts need to take a good, long, hard look at the people they are adjacent to around that table!

Why is it that such heartbreaking stories inside Iran rarely make the mainstream media these days? I'm convinced that the regime have some sort of stranglehold over the BBC....

Waybec said...

P.s. So the latest quote of Ahmadinejad: 'If you choose the path of treachery and dis-respect for the rights of the Iranian nation, you will get nothing but remorse.' Nope, he wasn't finally repenting and begging forgiveness for cheating the Iranian people. But rather just once again doing his one-trick pony act in front of an apathetic and occasionally cattle prodded crowd. I.e. simply deflect and dodge the real domestic issues - like Students Day of course - by dreging up the usual negative diatribes against all those nations who oppose his cringe-worthy hypocrisy. Ha, did yo notice - even the most stage managed crowds couldn't hide the yawns or the bored faces of people talking amongst themselves as he robotically spoke!

Anonymous said...

In ha az koja omadan,ajab harjo marjy dorost kardan, hokomat hoseingholi khany behtar az in nemishe.

Anonymous said...

pOtKin seen this entry about the interior ministry stating the jails are like hotels? ?!?!
http://www.hra-news.net/1389-01-27-05-27-21/5520-1.html

Winston said...

The killer regime has to go...

Unknown said...

This was reported in mid July 2010,

"RAHANA: In a 20-minute long trial, Leila Tavassoli, the daughter of Mohammad Tavassoli and niece of the Dr. Ebrahim Yazdi, has been sentenced to 2 years in prison by Judge Moghiseh. Mohammad Tavassoli is the head of Nehzat-e-Azadi(Freedom Movemnet of Iran) political branch.

According to Mizan Khabar, the 28th branch of the Revolutionary Court has sentenced Tavassoli to 2 years in prison based on Article 610 and 46 of the penal code, for participating in the protests and interviewing with RadioFarda and BBC as a witness to a man getting killed after being run over by a police car.

The Intelligence Ministry agents detained Tavassoli at her father’s house at 1 am on Ashura. She was released on bail after 2 months of detention in Ward 209 of the Evin Prison on February 23rd.

Her sister, Sarah Tavassoli was detained on December 4th. She was sentenced to 6 years in prison and 74 lashes after spending 5o days in Ward 209 of the Evin Prison. She has appealed her case.

Farid Taheri, Sara Tavassoli’s husband and a member of Nehzat-e-Azadi, who was accompanying her during the Ashura protests, has been detained since January 13th.

The appeals court has upheld Taheri’s 3 year prison term.
"