Glistener: News from Iran – Week 27

Prisoners’ News

Transfers

Mohsen Aminzadeh transferred to hospital again.
Khosrow and Masoud Kordpour transferred to Mahabad prison.
Iraj Mohammadi is back to general ward after 5 days in solitary confinement.

Arrests-Detentions

Liberations

Saeed Abdi, arrested in Urmiah, freed.
Babak Ghaneh, arrested in Urmiah, freed.
Nima, Sina and Tohid Hasani, arrested in Urmiah, freed.
Participation Front member Jamileh Karimi released after 10 weeks in prison in Shiraz.
Paria and Sevda Khalilzadeh, arrested in Urmiah, freed.
Milad Koulani, arrested in Urmiah, freed.
Saeed Lotfi, arrested in Urmiah, freed.
Erfan Moghadam, arrested in Urmiah, freed.
Member of the Freedom Front Mehdi Mohagheghi has been released on furlough.
Masoumeh Parivazh, arrested in Urmiah, freed.
Faculty of Tehran University and member of the National Peace Council, Mohammad Sadegh Rabani has been released on furlough.
Sima Sakeni, arrested in Urmiah, freed.
Hossein and Zahra Zad-Ghasem, arrested in Urmiah, freed.

Other News

Economic analyst and journalist Saeed Laylaz was taken to Evin but freed after questioning despite sentence of 6 years.
Kurd, Afshin Sohrabzadeh, 23, sentenced to prison in exile on political charges has committed suicide in prison.

News of injustice in Iran

Babak Baghaei acquitted by an Appeals Court in East Azerbaijan.
Workers’ Rights Activist Vafa Ghaderi sentenced to 1 year in prison.
Workers’ Rights Activist, Ghaleb Hosseini, sentenced to 1 year in prison.
Fatemeh Kheradmand sentenced to one year in prison.
Mir-Taher Mousavi’s sentence reduced by Appeals to 3 years + 2 years suspended.
One public hanging in Ahvaz on Saturday.
One hanging in Gachsaran on Saturday.
Two public hangings in Karaj on Sunday.
2 hangings in Khorramabad.
Mortazavi and 2 other judges sentenced to permanent suspension from Judicial duty, 5 years suspension from any official duty and 200,000 Toman fine.
Prisoner dies suspiciously a day before his release in Bandar Abbas prison.
21 hangings in Ghezel-Hesar prison on Tuesday.
4 hangings in Rejaei Shahr on Wednesday.
6 hangings in Bam on Friday.

University – Culture

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences invited acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi to join the Academy as a Director.
Print shops were ordered not to print newspapers reporting on the Kahrizak case verdicts.
Alireza Roshan, Gonabadi dervish, receives French poetry prize for resistance André Verdet

Protests

United Workers on strike in Khuzestan Steel Complex
300 workers of Imam Khomeini International Airport staged a sit-in in protest to non-payment of wages and benefits.

Iran abroad

Iran detains Slovak hang-glider group.
Ahmadinejad and Rostam Ghasemi, oil minister, in Russia for Gas Exporting Countries Forum.
Iran’s top diplomat Ali Akbar Salehi meets Qatar’s new ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani
Ahmadinejad meets Bolivian counterpart.
Al-Alam (state-run 24-hour Arabic news channel, targeting Arab audience, officially controlled by Khamenei’s bureau), Al-Kawthar , Press TV, HispanTV, iFilm” are among the Iranian TV channels whose transmission has been stopped on the European IntelSat, EutelSat 8, NileSat orbit and Galaxy 19.
Iran importing missile-grade ore from Germany, France.
Top Chinese shipping companies sever ties with Iran.
Georgia unilaterally cancels visa-free travel with Iran.

Iran Economics

Foreign investments in Iran increased by 17% in 2012.
$1 = 3415 toman
Price of medicine has increased on average 40% on domestic and 90% imported medicine.
Price of poultry rises 9% in one week. Tea and legume prices have jumped over 100% in one year.

Iran Politics

Government lodges complaint against two Majlis members following their comments on Ahmadinejad’s visit to the UN.
Iran refuses any visit of UN Human Rights rapporteur.

Miscellaneous