Kamangir (Archer)

They want to execute us
Effective tomorrow, anyone who wears stripped pyjamas will be executed for acting against public and private safety*.
p.s. From now on, this blog will be dedicated to apiary in alpine heights, the positive effects of cucumbers in getting rid of stomach gas,  modern sewing methods, making flowers with flour, the importance of [...]

The Kurd activist Farhad Hadj Mirzaei has been under arrest since last winter.
The Student Committee of Human Rights Reporters reports that the interrogators have applied harsh methods of torture, including electrical shocks and sleep deprivation, on the inmate, in order to take a forced confession out of him [Persian].
A week ago, his father wrote [...]

Akram Mahdavi is another victim of unjust and unequal laws in a country where, for the most part, the legal system considers females only half human, and where women’s rights, as well as their cries for help are routinely and systematically ignored, trampled upon, and even ridiculed. The now 32 year old mother of [...]

If you have not guessed how the case of a woman on the death row could have anything to do with “discount” a hosting company offers to its customers, well, that’s what I call the “Iranian Connection”.

The sign reads, “No service to people with loose veil, not even to our old customers”. This sign I wish was rare in Iran, but it isn’t. The fact is, there are stickers which carry the same message and are printed by the Police. These stickers are widely used all over Iran and their use [...]

Geert Wilders’s famous video finally found its way to the Internet. The much anticipated 15-minute video carries footage of Islamic leaders cursing the west and its values and advocating for Islam and its ways. The footage gives subtitles for the various languages spoken in it, the Persian parts of which are accurate. I wasn’t [...]

Outrageous Police Violence in Iran

Unrest in Shiraz University

Riot in Tehran

It is not really easy to be exposed to all the news about the upcoming elections in the states and remain silent, even if you know about American politics less than you know about Canary Islands. Taking a side feels good, as well. Therefore, this is why I chose Barack Obama.

Republican vs. Democratic: I guess [...]

The disgraceful action of an Iranian student in Canada caused a lot of very passionate discussions in the Persian blogosphere. Reportedly, the 25-year-old Ph.D. student of Memorial University, Newfoundland, has pleaded guilty for charges of sexually assaulting a lady in an elevator. On his defense he argued, “You can’t expect all males to control themselves when the breasts are out”. He also claimed to have been abused during his three-week preliminary confinement.

As mentioned before (see: January 30th, Solidarity of Bloggers with the Imprisoned Iranian Students), this blog, and its Persian counterpart, proudly support bloggers’ solidarity with Iranian imprisoned students. Join in! Spread the news!
Solidarity of Bloggers with the Imprisoned Iranian Students
“There is no doubt winter will have an end
And, the post of spring will come to [...]

“My M.Sc. application was rejected, not on the basis of my academic performance, but because of where I am born”, writes Amin, an Iranian reader of this blog. Attaching a snapshot of the communication he has received from University of Twente, in the Netherlands, he asks if this action is acceptable under international norms.
Apparently, the [...]

A large group of Iranian bloggers have decided to show their solidarity with tens of Iranian students who are imprisoned by the administration. More information, in Persian, is given in this blog.
This is the statement issued by the organizers (revised by me for grammatical mistakes in the original text),
Solidarity of Bloggers with the Imprisoned Iranian [...]

Ashura in Lebanon

Ebrahim Latif Allahi (Persian: ابراهیم لطف اللهی) was killed under torture. He studied law in Paiam Noor University in Sanandaj and was arrested about two weeks ago by the Intelligence. Reportedly, his family has been informed that “he has committed suicide in the prison” but that “his body is already buried”. His family is under [...]

One of the high-commanders of the Police force stated a few days ago that in 63% of cases of murder with a female victim, women are killed by a family member and that “the Police cannot intervene in these cases” [Persian]. The Persian blogger Ghoghnoos (means Phoenix) is outraged by these remarks and asks [Persian],
Why [...]

Today, the Islamic Republic executed 13 people, 8 of whom were hung up in the Evin Prison, among which was one woman.
DW Persian quotes Reuters as qouting from ISNA that the eight people were executed on charges of murder. Three others were hung up in Qom for drug trafficking and and two more were executed [...]

Islamic militia and Basij members attacked the office of a reformist newspaper in Shiraz, Iran. The attackers destroyed the equipments and injured the staff. The incident followed a clash between the Sharia Police and people in front of the office of Today’s Analysis (Persian: تحلیل روز), because its staff came to their windows and watched [...]

There is something in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination that hurts me. It is not the fact that she was relatively young; it is rather about the way she and many others like her are being killed everyday. What makes me terrified is the popularity this weapon is gaining.
I am a fan of Empire Earth and I [...]

Do you remember Makwan Moloudzadeh, who was to be executed for a homosexual act which he allegedly committed when he was 13 (see: Boy to be executed for Underage Homosexual Act, Take Ation!)? He was executed recently despite the controversy surrounding the witnesses against him (Reuters).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ci6NcYyh3I

Police Brutality in Birjand, Iran, during the Sharia crackdown. This is what the girl is saying,
Wait a second! Lady Policewoman! … [Screaming] Let me go! [Screaming] People! Help! Help me!…
It is not clear what happens to the girl at the end. The consequences of detention by the Sharia police can be quite dangerous, see: Medical [...]

The women’s rights’ activist Jelveh Javaheri (جلوه جواهری) was arrested today by the Revolutionary Courts. She was summoned to the court today and was arrested on charges of disrupting the public opinion, anti-regime propaganda, and spreading false news. Javaheri is a sociology graduate student and has been active in women rights’ groups for a long [...]

As you might have noticed, and as also the localmalcontent pointed out, there was a critical problem in the database tables of the photoblog which caused a fatal error. The issue is not dealt with. Because many readers were not able to see the pictures, I post the link to the most recent incident of [...]

Persian blogger Reza Valizadeh (رضا ولی زاده) was arrested for his report about expensive German dogs being used in Ahmadinejad’s guard team.
On November 16th he wrote about the four dogs which are recently added to Ahmadinejad’s security team, after they were purchased form Germany for $150,000 each [Persian]. Read the complete translation of his post [...]