‘Free Iran’ rally gives voice to those still suffering in Iran

Free Iran’ rally gives voice to those still suffering in Iran

Farzad Madadzadeh, a former Iranian political prisoner, who escaped Iran last year, has written his account of why he plans to join tens of thousands of Iranians and their international supporters at the July 9 "Free Iran" rally in Paris.

In an op-ed for The Hill on Tuesday, Mr. Madadzadeh wrote: "Needless to say, it is a significant international event regarding an important international issue. But for me it is very personal. In spirit, I will be with a much larger crowd. We will be joined by a countless Iranians still living under the thumb of the theocratic regime, who will risk reprisals to watch the proceedings on banned satellite television channels."

"How do I know? After this year’s rally, I will have seen the event from both sides of the ideological wall that separates the Islamic Republic from most of the rest of the world. In past years, I was among those Iranians who supported the NCRI and its main constituent group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), from a silent place inside the country. I put my safety and freedom at risk, as did many of my colleagues, to carry on the groups’ local activism. I spent five years in jail from 2009 to 2014 and suffered extensive physical and psychological torture for my support for the PMOI.  I fled Iran at the age of 29 last year."

Iran: Women no longer acquiesce on violation of rights

16134 womenin Tehran have referred to the coroner's office in the first five months of the Iranian year (March-July 2015) because of suffering injury in fights and physical quarrels.

The statistics indicate that more women have been engaging in fights.

Experts who have examined the data say women are looking differently at themselves and cannot swallow their rage once their rights are violated or face physical violence.

Iran: Kurdish political prisoner banned from visits despite severe illness

Kurdish political prisoner Zeinab Jalalian, imprisoned for eight years now, is suffering from severe vision problems and may lose her eyesight.

Zeinab has been under intense pressure during the past few years by agents of the notorious Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) and is still deprived of her weekly visits. She has launched hunger strikes protesting her conditions, and according to prison physicians she must undergo eye surgery and may go blind if she doesn't receive treatment.

Jalalian was born in 1982 in the city of Maku, northwestern Iran, and was arrested in 2007 by agents in Kermanshah's Intelligence Department. She was first sentenced to death and then to life in prison.

Iran: 9 executions in Gohardasht and Sanandaj prisons in one day

On Wednesday, September 16, at least nine prisoners were hanged by the Iranianregime in Gohardasht (Rajai Shahr) prison, Karaj and in Sanandaj. Eight of them, including a 22 and a 24-year-old, were collectively hanged in Gohardasht Prison. And Raouf Hosseini was hanged in Sanandaj Prison after suffering 13 years of imprisonment.

Iran: At least 20,000 homeless sleeping in Tehran streets.

Iran:Living rough on the streets of Tehran

At least 20,000 homeless Iranians are living in cardboard boxes on the streets of Tehran, a senior official of the regime has acknowledged, even as the real number of homeless people in the Iranian capital is believed to be several times the official figure. 

Tehran has more than 20,000 homeless people sleeping in the streets, and 10% of these people are women. 10% of these homeless people are suffering from infectious diseases.

Children victims of poverty