Four members of pro-reform Maqhreb newspaper staff arrested
Amir Musa Kazemi, Editor-in-Chief, has said that he is still unaware of the charges against Managing Editor Mohammad Mehdi Emami-Naseri, who was arrested on October 1 and has been incarcerated in Evin prison.
Since that time, “Three other employees of the newspaper, the Finance Manager, Public Relations Manager and the Managing Director’s deputy have been arrested along with Mr. Naseri-Emami, and we have no information about the charges against them either.”
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UN Office for Human Rights office speaks out against increasing clamp down on critical voices in Iran
The United Nations Office for Human Rights voiced serious concerns regarding the arrest and imprisonment of several prominent human rights defenders, journalists and political activists in Iran over the past two weeks. “This appears to reflect a further severe clamp down on critical voices in the country… We urge the Government of Iran to promptly release all those who have been arrested for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights.”
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Concerns over detained student activists
The Committee of Human Rights Reporters has expressed concern that there has been no news about detained student activists Mehdi Fakhrzadeh, Saeed Aghapour and Mehdi Tavakoli.
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Hunger strike of political prisoner enters fifth day
Elmira Farh Vazehan, who is imprisoned in the women’s division of Evin Prison, launched a hunger strike last Friday to protest the lack of medical treatment. Elmira, who lived abroad for several years, returned to Iran to visit her cancer-stricken son in the middle of the elections. Upon her return to Iran, Elmira was arrested along with her husband and two children, sentenced to death for involvement in terrorist activities and protest action, but her sentence as reduced to 17 years in prison.
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Abdolfattah Soltani given IBA Human Rights Award
At the annual conference of the International Bar Association (IBA), the 2012 IBA Human Rights Award was awarded to Abdolfattah Soltani. Soltani is the co-founder of the Defender of Human Rights Centre (DHRC)… Soltani is currently serving a prison sentence of 18 years. He was convicted on charges of “propaganda against the system” as well as “earning illegitimate assets” by receiving the Nuremberg City’s Human Rights prize in 2009. In a letter read to the IBA conference, Soltani said:
“The ugly truth is that the political establishment in Iran, in many cases by using a few non-independent judges, has turned the whole judicial system into a tool for implementing their own wishes. They are using these courts as a heavy hammer to suppress the legitimate and legal demands of the population.”
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Source: Iran Daily Brief