Iran

[zahir]

Isfahan steelworks today




Grand Bazaar in Tehran

 

[zahir]

Thread:

The widely shared claim that the Iranian regime has committed to executing 15,000 detained protesters is not true. Please stop sharing it. The Iranian regime is horrific, brutal and ruthless as it actually is. There's no need to make up stories.

The Iranian regime has already issued the death peanlty to one protester and will almost certainly hand out more. Journalists and rights groups should report each unjust sentence by Iran's notorious judiciary and hold the regime to account, but we must do so based on facts.

 

[zahir]

 

[teqniq]

Had enough:

 

[hitmouse]

How long until Russia steps in to back up the murderous regime, like they did in Syria? Given the growing alliance between the two states this has to be a possibility.

In any other year I think it'd be more likely, but reckon the Russian miltary might not have that much free time in their schedule right now?

 

[zahir]

 

[zahir]

Thread:

The danger of the false claim that Iran's parliament has called for the execution of 14,000 protestors is that it desensitizes people to the true horror: thousands of people will be unfairly punished for exercising their constitutionally-protected right to protest.

Let's begin with the facts. Given that the judiciary has charged some of the protestors with "moharebeh" (war against God) and "efsad fel-arz" (corruption on earth), it is almost certain to pass down death sentences, and some of these sentences may lead to executions.

So far, we know of one death sentence, which the accused can appeal. There will almost certainly be more. But it is highly unlikely that the courts will accuse every arrested protestor of capital crimes, or that their charges will carry the death penalty.

It is unclear if the 14,000 number bandied about includes protestors who were later released, or those freed on bail. While it is difficult to predict how those who will go on trial will be punished, recent trials for protestors in 2009, 2018, and 2019 can give us some idea.

If I were to guess I would say that a few protestors will be sentenced to death. A much greater number will be imprisoned for short or long periods. Others will be slapped with financial penalties or other disabilities (fired from jobs, expelled from university, etc).

And a fair number will likely be acquitted or charges will be dropped against them. So what is the meaning and significance of the parliamentary call on the judiciary about the protestors?

What the MPs did was not sentence protestors to death (they don't have that power), or even call for the death penalty for all protestors. They called on the judiciary to act swiftly and harshly with those who "who waged war and attacked people’s life and property"

(see here: Iranian lawmakers ask Judiciary to severely punish agents, inciters of riots ). This is a highly ambiguous statement. It is not clear who precisely the MPs mean. All the thousands of protestors who have been arrested? Only a subset that they consider violent?

Moreover, it is not clear what they mean by firm punishment. The death penalty is certainly the firmest possible punishment, but it's not the only "firm" punishment available to the judiciary.

The important point is this: While parliament certainly cannot sentence people to death, the result of a call like this is that it creates an atmosphere in which judges will feel they have a more open hand in issuing harsh sentences, including death, but also imprisonment.

This is what should worry people. Not that thousands of people will be executed, but that the judiciary will act harshly with protestors who have a constitutionally-protected right to protest and free assembly, a right that has been denied to them.

Again, there is no doubt in my mind that there will be some death sentences, and that some sentences will eventually lead to executions. But we should be worried about the broader problem that can get lost when people focus on false, sensational claims:

Protestors are being unfairly tried and many will be punished for protesting, a right that has been denied to them for decades. We should be alarmed when anyone is sentenced to death. But we should also worry about the many more people who will be punished in other ways.

 

[zahir]

Podcast episode 4:

Iran, 1979-1997: Islamic Republic, War, and Thermidor

Featuring Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi and Golnar Nikpour on the history of modern Iran. This is the fourth episode in what is now a FIVE-part series. We pick up in the wake of the Islamic Revolution as Khomeini consolidates power, represses his rivals, and confronts an invasion from Saddam...

thedigradio.com

We pick up in the wake of the Islamic Revolution as Khomeini consolidates power, represses his rivals, and confronts an invasion from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. We continue through the Iran-Iraq War, the mass execution of thousands of leftist prisoners, and Khamenei and Rafsanjani’s rise to power after Khomeini’s death.

 

[teqniq]

 

[Bingoman]

What exactly is corruption on earth mean never heard that before

 

[teqniq]

What exactly is corruption on earth mean never heard that before

I think this covers it:

 

[CNT36]

In any other year I think it'd be more likely, but reckon the Russian miltary might not have that much free time in their schedule right now?

I'm not sure how likely it would be. Russia and Iran are rivals in a lot of ways. Although apparently on the same side they are in an intense competition for influence and power through the Assad regime. Russia has strategic interests in Syria in a way they don't in Iran.

 

[Bingoman]

I think this covers it:

Ok thank you

 

[teqniq]

Tangentially related:

British spy chief: Iran tried 10 times to kidnap or kill UK-linked individuals

 

[zahir]

‘Hit the b*****ds!’: Anti-regime protests continue to rage in Iran

Unrest continues exactly two months since Mahsa Amini’s death

www.independent.co.uk

 

[zahir]

“Don’t think it’s just today, this is our plan for everyday.” “100% of our salary is our absolute right.” “If you don’t fix our problems, we’ll shut this plant.”

From here

 

[teqniq]

Interview with Dr. Shirin Ebadi parts of which are translated in the subsequent tweets:

 

[zahir]

 

[zahir]

 

[hitmouse]

Podcast interview with an Iranian exile:

Elephant in the Room #43 – Feminist perspective on the Revolution in Iran and the Iranian diaspora – AND

 

[zahir]

 

[zahir]

 

[platinumsage]

Apparently this guy was an Iranian agent and got upset with the protesters, and the protesters weren’t to happy:

 

[zahir]

 

[zahir]

Evin Prison Riot – Slingers.Collective

This report is one of the most detailed descriptions of the Evin prison blaze and the following riot that broke out on Oct 15th, 2022. In what follows, we first give a brief description of Evin prison’s historical and political significance. We then provide a brief description of the events of Oct 15th, followed by a more detailed elaboration of all the stages of the riot at ward 8th, the courtyard, and the following suppression of prisoners at the sports hall the next morning.

 

[zahir]

Podcast episode 5:

Iran, 1997-2022: Reform, Reaction, and Crisis

Featuring Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi and Golnar Nikpour on the history of modern Iran. This is the fifth and final episode in what is now a FIVE-part series. We begin this episode in 1997, with reformist cleric Mohammad Khatami’s surprise landslide election to the presidency. Then we cover the...

thedigradio.com

We begin this episode in 1997, with reformist cleric Mohammad Khatami’s surprise landslide election to the presidency. Then we cover the reformists running into hardliner repression and George W. Bush’s War on Terror, the 2005 election of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his 2009 reelection and Green Movement protests, Hassan Rouhani and the nuclear accord that Trump then tore up, the 2019 mass working-class protests, and the election (but really more coronation) of right-winger Ebrahim Raisi. We end with the death of Zhina Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police and the current mass protest movement that erupted in response.

 

[zahir]

 

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[zahir]

Mahabad yesterday:

 

[zahir]

Mahsa Alimardani on the Iran protests and Twitter