Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Nasrin Sotoudeh the 49 year old Iranian human rights lawyer imprisoned for six years in solitary confinement has won the European Union’s prize for human rights and freedom of thought, the Sakharov Prize. Renowned for representing imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians following the disputed June 2009 Iranian presidential elections, as well as prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors, had been imprisoned herself on charges of spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security. An Aljazeera articles states “…cut off from the outside world for defying the country’s leadership. Nasrin Sotoudeh, an imprisoned human rights lawyer, and Jafar Panahi, the filmmaker, were awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for their courage in defending their own and others’ basic freedoms, the parliament said. Named in honour of Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, the prize has been awarded by the European Parliament annually since 1988. “The award … is a message of solidarity and recognition to a woman and a man who have not been bowed by fear and intimidation and who have decided to put the fate of their country before their own,” Martin Schulz, European Parliament president, said as he announced the winners. …”I know that you require water, food, housing, a family, parents, love, and visits with your mother,” Sotoudeh began in a letter written from prison to her children, who were prevented from seeing her after she refused to wear a chador, a full length traditional garment. “However, just as much, you need freedom, social security, the rule of law, and justice.”

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Online campaign to execute Shahin Najafi (June 7th 2012)

Shahin Najafi the 31 year old Iranian musician singer and social activist residing in Germany, has gone into hiding following Iranian clerics placing a $100,000 bounty on his murder. Najafi has been condemned for violating a ‘fatwa’ that calls for the execution of anyone who blasphemes Ali an-Naqi, one of the 12 imams or religious figures revered by Shia Muslims. Najafi released a song “Naqi” that takes its name from Ali an-Naqi, its lyrics oppose the oppression and human rights abuse following the 2009 contested Iranian presidential election. Its lyrics call on Naqi to intervene and save the country. Najafi’s songs generally touch on sensitive issues such as “theocracy, poverty, sexism, censorship, child labor, execution, drug addiction and homophobia”. The Independent reports the “The Iranian religious website, Shia-Online, put a $100,000 bounty on the singer’s head and said he deserved to die for “grossly insulting” Ali an-Naqi. More than 100 people have joined an online “campaign to execute Shahin Najafi”. Mr Najafi is popular within the 120,000-strong Iranian community in Germany. Brought up in a small port in southern Iran, he fled to Germany in 2005 after being threatened, apparently by Iranian intelligence, for staging underground concerts. Tehran has so far made no comment on the fatwas against Mr Najafi.”

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They will have to pay dearly (March 30th 2012)

Meir Dagan the 66 year old former Israel Defense Forces officer and former Director of the Mossad has put his trust in US President Barack Obama to intervene where necessary, cautioning against attacking the Iranian nuclear sites. In an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” program, Meir Dagan said he believes the Iranian regime along with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are “very rational”. “An attack on Iran before you are exploring all other approaches is not the right way… and (President Obama) said openly that the military option is on the table and he is not going to let Iran become a nuclear state, and from my experience, I usually trust the president of the US… But no doubt, they are considering all the implications of their actions… They will have to pay dearly… and I think the Iranians at this point in time are… very careful on the project… It’s our duty to help anyone who likes to present an open opposition against their regime in Iran… If I prefer that someone will do it, I always prefer that Americans will do it.”

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US military buildup to confront Iran (December 30th)

Avram Noam Chomsky the 83 year old US philosopher renowned for his critiques of US foreign policy has an article re-published on Aljazeera in which he discusses the US military buildup to confront the Iranian foreign policy crisis confronting the US. “The Obama administration has been rapidly expanding US offensive capacity in the African island of Diego Garcia … nuclear-powered guided-missile submarines with Tomahawk missiles, which can carry nuclear warheads. Each submarine is reported to have the striking power of a typical carrier battle group … the substantial military equipment Obama has dispatched includes 387 “bunker busters” used for blasting hardened underground structures … On taking office, Obama immediately accelerated the plans, and they are to be deployed several years ahead of schedule, aiming specifically at Iran… The increasing threats of military action against Iran are of course in violation of the UN Charter … call to all states to resolve disputes related to nuclear issues peacefully … which bans the use or threat of force.”

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Reza Hoda Saber the 52 year old Iranian political activist and leading journalist for an opposition magazine Iran-e Farda, died in the custody of the Iranian prison Evin while on a hunger strike in protest of fellow opposition figure Haleh Sahabi’s death at the hands of security forces while at the funeral of her father. Saber was into his tenth day of a hunger strike when stricken with severe chest pains associated with his heart. Saber’s screams of agony where ignored by prison authorities for six hours before eventually being transferred to hospital for belated surgery to his blocked arteries, dying during the course of the operation. The opposition group Council for the Green Path of Hope condemned the Iranian government for the neglect and Saber’s unlawful detention without charge.

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