Body of Hojjat Zamani still not released to his family

NCRI - The Iranian regime’s henchmen in Gohardasht Prison are setting the stage for the massacre of political prisoners who are currently on a hunger strike. The henchmen have started rumors that prisoners were planning to commit suicide.

Two of the prisoners, Valiollah Feiz-Mahdavi and Assad Shaghaghi, have released a statement announcing, “We are under extreme danger. They have told us that we will stab ourselves to death or by consuming hair-removing substance.” Fearing for their lives the prisoners add, “We are declaring publicly that we shall in no way harm our own well-being. In case of any incident, our countrymen should press charges against Gohardasht warden, Haj Kazem, and other officials. We are hereby authorizing the people of Iran to press lawsuits on our behalf against them.”

Following the execution of Hojjat Zamani, political prisoners were transferred to wards with ordinary criminals, where some inmates attacked and stabbed them. Two of the prisoners are currently in the hospital because of their wounds.

Reports also indicate that the hunger strike, which started in protest to the execution of Hojjat Zamani, is continuing.

According to these reports just before his execution, Hojjat Zamani, was under extreme torture and pressure to confess to planting bombs. Officials wanted to record his confession on a camera for later use. Hojjat refused to do so.

The Iranian Resistance draws the attention of the United Nations Security Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other international Human Rights Organizations to the deteriorating situation of political prisoners. It also calls for immediate action to save the lives of these prisoners and to prevent the massacre planned by the regime.

Based on received reports, on Friday, Feb. 17th, Youssef Rastee, a member of the Ansar al-Rasool brigade of the revolutionary guards who was based in the town of Javonrood (Province of Kermanshah) shot himself in the head, committing suicide. The reasons behind his suicide are still unclear. However, it is actively rumored that many members of the revolutionary guards stationed in Kurdistan having been exposed to the desperation and destitution of the masses, have begun to show increasing signs of resentment toward the rampant corruption in the upper ranks of the regime and revolutionary guards; it is also said that many are horrified by the realization of an inevitable and massive uprising, which could lead to bloodshed.
iranpressnews.com

kurdishinfo.com
Turkish Government, which can not take a result from the attempts about closing Kurdish television Roj TV, from Denmark and international area, determined a new concept against Roj TV.

In the action plan which consists of 61 articles and which was determined by the High Commission of Struggle with Terror (TMYK) it was said that it will open a trial to every person who joined to the programs of Roj TV.

According to the action plan of TMYK; it will open a trial to every person, who will join to the programs of Roj TV from Turkey, by phone or who will be studio visitor.

According to the action plan which was determined last week in the meeting of TMYK, it is stipulated to give terror punishment to the participants of Roj TV programs from Turkey principally. To every person who will join to the programs of Roj TV, from politicians, academicians, writers, singers, artists to ordinary citizen will be given punishment.

The clossing attempts of Turkey about Roj TV found a great reflection in international area and hundreds of famous intellectuals and atists and politicians had been sent letters to Denmark Government not to close Kurdish television.

kurdishinfo.com

In the past week in East Kurdistan (Iran) during attacks on mass demonstrations by the Iranian security forces a total of 11 civilians were killed, 250 people were wounded, 40 heavily, and 800 were taken into custody. The wounded are afraid to go to hospital for fear of the state, and families are unable to get any information on the wounded taken into custody.

People are forcibly taken into custody, their homes are raided and they are tortured. It was the day of the seventh anniversary of the illegal capture of the Leader of the Kurdish people Mr. Abdullah Ocalan as part of an international conspiracy. The Kurdish people in Iranian Kurdistan in many cities democratically protested the event with mass demonstrations calling for the freedom of Mr. Ocalan. It is the legitimate and democratic human right of a people to organise democratic mass demonstration expressing their loyalty to their National Leader. However, the Iranian regime has demonstrated yet again that they refuse to tolerate this legitimate and democratic right, and they responded brutally with police and military forces obstructing and killing demonstrators.

The following cities in Iranian Kurdistan are danger places which pose a serious threat for the Kurds: Mahabad, Nexede, Piransehr, Meriwan, Sine, Kirmansah, Urmiye, Soma, Mako and Poldesit.In the cities of Mako, Poldesit and Soma 11 people lost their lives. For this reason special attention needs to be paid to the military build up, tensions and continuing siege. Intense pressure is also building up for people in the region to become village guards and act as paramilitary forces for the state.
All these developments indicate that the situation could escalate any time. The Kurdish people facing a serious situation of injustice where there is no recourse to any democratic law and human rights. We call on the international community to the end the deaths and destruction that has continued till today. Democratic public opinion should not keep silent, it must take any action necessary to stop this. The Kurdish people who have suffered oppression and injustice by the regional states should not be left alone. Kurds have always insisted on and called for democracy, freedom and human rights. We call on the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), European Parliament (EP), Council of Europe, and the United State of America:This is not just about the Kurdish people, but for peace, stability, democracy, human rights, and freedom of the entire region and everyone and every organization must act responsibly. The attacks on the Kurdish people must be stopped immediately and a solution should be found for the Kurdish question and pressure should be brought to bear on the Iranian State as tomorrow may be too late.

Kurdistan National Congress

kurdmedia.com

ANKARA -- Two Turkish television stations have been authorized to begin broadcasting in Kurdish beginning next month, television executives said on Tuesday, in a move that reflects the country's efforts to grant its minority Kurd community increased rights.

The heads of Gun TV-Radio and Soz Radio-Television, private stations that broadcast from Diyarbakir in the majority Kurd-populated southeast, were invited on Monday to the Turkish media control board (RTUK), said "Radio Gun" program director Cemal Dogen.

"It was a very important meeting because for the first time we have been officially invited by the RTUK to talk about broadcasting conditions," said Dogen.

The broadcast agreement came after several months of negotiations.

The Kurdish language programming will most likely begin on March 21, which is the Kurdish new year also known as Newroz and the first day of spring.

The number of broadcast hours is still fairly limited, with radio given five hours a week and television four.

In 2004 Turkish state television broke taboos by broadcasting the country's first Kurdish language program in a move seen as complying with European Union wishes ahead of membership talks with Turkey.

Turkey's Kurd population is estimated at between 10 million and 15 million, out of a total population of around 70 million.

Some 35,000 people have been killed since 1984 when the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) picked up arms for self-rule.

The situation has calmed since the 1999 arrest and life imprisonment of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Feb. 23 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said late Wednesday that the toppling of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had turned the country into a “strong bastion” in defence of Iran’s Islamic revolution.

Ahmadinejad was speaking in Shahre-Kord in the south-western province of Chahar Mahal va Bakhtiyari Wednesday night, the state-run news agency ISNA reported.

“Those who imagined that by removing Saddam they would create a power base in the region today see that, through the blessing of the Islamic revolution, Iraq has been transformed into a strong bastion in defence of the Islamic revolution”, Ahmadinejad said.

“The Islamic revolution is the flag-bearer of people’s freedom from the dominant Arrogance (U.S.) and the Order of Plunder (the West)”, Ahmadinejad said.

He said that the roots of all of the world’s problems were in the “existence of a few hegemonic countries”.

The hard-line president added that for the past 27 years, the West had been forced to retreat and the “revolutionary front of the Iranian nation” was moving forward.

“In Palestine, the hegemonic regime had created a base for itself and chanted the slogan ‘from the Nile to the Euphrates’ but today despite the enemies’ wide-scale propaganda the Palestinian nation has with the highest level of innocence empty-handedly cornered the illegitimate regime of Israel and is constantly gaining victories”, Ahmadinejad said.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese vice foreign minister will fly to Iran on Friday to start three days of talks on the standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters on Thursday.

China said earlier on Thursday that there was still room to defuse the nuclear standoff between Iran and Western countries, who have threatened sanctions against Tehran.

Vice Foreign Minister Lu Guozeng will visit Iran from February 24 to 26.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Iran's foreign minister said Thursday his country had not ruled out Russia's uranium enrichment proposal, but stressed several issues still needed to be discussed, including timing and location.

``With such an understanding ... maybe we can reach some compromise,'' Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters during a brief visit to Indonesia.

Iranian and Russian officials held talks this week to try to find a way to end a standoff over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, but no visible progress was made.

The discussions centered on a proposal to transfer Iran's uranium enrichment program to Russia, a move that could prevent the process from being used to make atomic weapons.