Category: Other

Iran: Khamenei says election protests “anti-Islam,” as Iran State TV forgery and Iranian nuclear bomb plots reported

Iran leader says opposition protests “anti-Islam”
— Al Arabiya News Channel reports that:
— “Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned opposition leaders on Sunday to distance themselves from protesters whom he accused of acting “against Islam” as he labeled the June presidential election legal and said the case was closed.”

Image of Protesters in Iran (Al-Arabiya)
Image of Protesters in Iran (Al-Arabiya)

— Iran: Burned ayatollah photo sparks new Iranian protests
— Iranian state TV accused of faking burning of Khomeini portrait

Iran: Secret document exposes Iran’s nuclear trigger
— London Times: “Confidential intelligence documents obtained by The Times show that Iran is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb.”
— Leaked memo identifies man at head of Iran’s nuclear program – Mohsen Fakhrizadeh
— Discovery of UD3 raises fears over Iran’s nuclear intentions
— “Critically, while other neutron sources have possible civilian uses, UD3 has only one application – to be the metaphorical match that lights a nuclear bomb.”
— Leaked ‘memo’ suggests Iran’s nuclear secrets
— Iran worked on atom bomb part in 2007: report
iran_lion_sun

Iran to put on trial 3 Americans caught hiking across border

Iran to put on trial 3 Americans caught hiking across border
— Washington Post: “Iran said Monday, Dec. 14, 2009, it would try Americans Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27 who were detained by Iranian authorities after crossing an unmarked border from northern Iraq in July.”

— American hikers to go on trial in Iran

— Clinton Rejects Iranian Spy Charges Against American Hikers

Iran arrests scores of student activists

Iran arrests scores of student activists
— Washington Times reports:
— “Iranian authorities have rounded up scores of student activists in a bid to head off what several young people said will be massive demonstrations on university campuses across the country Monday.”
— “Monday is National Students Day, named for the day in 1953 when armed forces entered the campus of Tehran University and killed three students protesting the government of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.”
— “Hadi Ghaemi, a spokesman for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, said at least 90 students have been arrested in the past three weeks. Milad Asadi, a member of the Central Council of the Student Union to Foster Unity, Iran’s main student organization, was arrested at his home Tuesday.”

Pakistan: “Make slavery history, civil society urges government”

Pakistan: “Make slavery history, civil society urges government”
— Pakistan Daily Times: “Activists maintain that slavery still exists in Pakistan in the form of bonded labour, human trafficking, forced marriages, and the exploitation of women and chiuldren. They stressed that legislation outlawing slavery should be properly implemented.”
— “They also urged the government to legislate to stop internal human trafficking, which was still not acknowledged as a crime in Pakistan.”
— “They urged parliament to assert its authority to improve the human rights condition of the country and to end slavery. Talking to Daily Times, HRCP Vice Chairman Dr Mehdi Hasan said that slavery did not exist on paper, but in reality it was very much present in Pakistan. Dr Mehdi said that laws outlawing such activities did exist, but were unfortunately not implemented. He said civil society, the media and parliament needed to shift their priorities, they needed to talk more about the issues of the common man.”

Tajikistan: Court bans Baptist church

Tajikistan: Court bans Baptist church
— Forum 18 reports: “Members of a Baptist congregation in the capital Dushanbe have appealed to the City Court against a ban on their activity imposed because they meet for worship in a private home without state registration. But Judge Soliya Ismailova of Somoni District Court, who handed down the ban, defended her decision and denied that this violated the Baptists’ freedom of worship. ‘The Law demands that all non-government organisations register,’ she told Forum 18 News Service. The court-imposed ban came after a 9 October raid on a church service by officials of the City Administration, Dushanbe city Prosecutor’s office, Police and National Security Committee secret police. Baptists told Forum 18 they are continuing to meet for worship despite the ban. State control of religious activity has been steadily tightening in 2009, including through a new Religion Law.”