The Sea of Green is back

A day of protests in Iran ended in tears and arrests again, mostly due to the tear gas hurled into the crowds by Revolutionary Guards.

Foreign media was ordered to remain in their offices for 3 days and were told they were not to report on the events currently happening in Iran. Mobile networks in downtown Tehran were shut down. The internet was slowed to a crawl or didn't work at all.

All this because of a planned student protest. A protest aimed at getting the message out that the election results from Iran's last election are illegitimate and that the deaths, beatings, executions and abuses of the regime following said election would not be forgotten.

Police surrounded universities in an attempt to silence the protesters, fired tear gas into crowds and many people claiming to be witnesses have reported beatings by Basij militiamen. But the crowds were relentless and protested hard.

Without a doubt, the Sea of Green has returned.

More Sham Trials in Iran... (surpise!)

A French lecturer named Clotilde Reiss and staff from the French and British Embassies were charged in court yesterday with "spying and aiding a Western plot to overthrow the system of clerical rule"; according to an article in the Globe and Mail.

It is unclear if Reiss or the others were provided with interpreters while the charges were read and as we know from articles published last week, defendants in these mock trials are not allowed to have defense lawyers present. Many have called these proceedings by Iran's Revolutionary Court to be a sham, a farce and an outrage.

Since the June 12th elections official news sources state that over 20 people were killed in riots in the streets, but other sources from inside the country claimed to have confirmed over 1000 deaths.

In addition it would seems that "collecting news and information and sending pictures of the unrest abroad" is also considered a crime in Iran as these were also part of the charges laid against the defendants.

France and England expressed their outrage as did most of the EU, but it doesn't seem to slow down Iran pounding more victims into the ground with its iron fist. The trials are continuing and media coverage is dwindling, it's important for all of us to keep Iran in the news, not only because of the foreign nationals that are being held, but because the people of Iran believed, when they started reaching across cyberspace, that we would keep this alive as long they kept fighting for their rights. They haven't given up and neither should we.

Live (Kind of) From Tehran...

Youtube video of the laments and protests of oppositions supporters under the cover of darkness.



(from Twitter: SLSiriRT Tonight in Tehran. Gives me chills. Let's make tomorrow LOUDER!)

There's no justice, they're just us....

The trials of protesters and government opposition are underway in Iran. Criticism from around the world hasn't stopped, the #iranelections channel on Twitter is still going strong.

Even those inside Iran's government are calling for a simultaneous trial of those who hit, abused, burned and murdered protesters but apparently the cry from within has yet again fallen on deaf ears as the government has made no moves to bring charges against those at fault.

In today's Globe and Mail Moshen Rezaei, a conservative challenger to the "president" said that trials of those responsible for the attack of protesters and torture or prisoners should go forward, “otherwise, justice will not be realized and it is possible that unrest will not end.”

While former president Mohammad Khatami called the trials a sham and said they would do nothing but “lead to ignorance of the real crimes”. The defendants' lawyers were not allowed to access court files or enter the courtroom. The former president then went on to say “As far as I have learned, what happened in the trial was contrary to the constitution and law, as well as citizens' right.”

So it appears that the Sea of Green, despite its best efforts, is subject to yet another injustice by their government and its choke hold on the population continues. I've said it in previous posts that any court called a Revolutionary court will never give true justice... Iran has yet again proven my point.

I don't know why I'm surprised though, the authorities and the militia have been acting like judge, jury and executioner since June 12th, just as they did to poor Neda who became a worldwide symbol of hope and resistance. Now the authorities are just doing it in nicer clothing and with the protective blanket offered by laws that they seem to invent as they go along.

There will be no justice in Iran, but as long as we keep spreading the news, those who have died and suffered will not be forgotten.

Canadian Journalist "Arrested" in Iran

Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, a Concordia graduate who has dual citizenship Iran-Canada, was "arrested" today and is being held without charge.

He has been working for Newsweek magazine for the last 11 years and has been living and covering Iran for many years. He was arrested today while or after covering the ongoing protests in Tehran. In a statement Newsweek said that he is being "detained without charge by Iranian authorities and has not been heard from since."

Reporters Without Borders claims that 23 journalists have been arrested in Iran since the contested election. In the case of Mr Bahari however, his dual citizenship might slow or stop his release altogether, as we have seen in the past with the Iranian-Canadian Blogger Hossein Derakhshan (AKA the blogfather).

Please write to your MP in parliament to urge the Canadian government to pressure Tehran for his release.

(Source for quotes: the Montreal Gazette)

Muchacho Enfermo

Latest Tweets on #iranelection

AmandaMilano RT there is no fear here now..i feel it in the air. we all are ready to become martyrs. why live if you are not free.no point. #iranelection

eyecandylights if you see helicopters - burn tyres - as many as possible in many location - #Iranelection RT RT RT

baveel RT If an innocent girl gets shot halfway across the world, does she make a sound? Yes, the whole world hears her. #iranelection #neda

sashamakila RT To those outside Iran- Change your Timezone to +3:30 Tehran and location to Tehran to help hide twittering Iranians #iranelection

Muchacho Enfermo

Twitter #IranElections

(a screen shot from #IranElections taken 5 minutes ago)

A good friend of mine convinced me to join Twitter this week. At first I wasn't exactly sure what the whole point was to my joining and I must admit that to a certain degree I'm still no sure how it works.

But this morning, there is a protest in Tehran and I wanted to know what was happening at the same time it was happening. So I decided to go see on Twitter. Ends up there is a channel called #IranElections and updates on the Green Revolution are coming in at the speed of light. Hundreds of people from government "spies" to people AT the protests are uploading their comments as it unfolds.

This week it is reported that at peek times the channel had over 200,000 Tweets per hour. What we are seeing here people is something absolutely amazing. Not just in terms of Freedom of Speech and the courage to protest, but in terms of ways to use technology to rally together behind a cause.

So go to Twitter, type #IranElections in the search bar and show your support by posting your comment.

Muchacho Enfermo